U.S. patent application number 17/172007 was filed with the patent office on 2021-06-03 for systems and methods for suppressing sound leakage.
This patent application is currently assigned to SHENZHEN VOXTECH CO., LTD.. The applicant listed for this patent is SHENZHEN VOXTECH CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Junjiang FU, Fengyun LIAO, Xin QI, Bingyan YAN, Lei ZHANG.
Application Number | 20210168532 17/172007 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005389452 |
Filed Date | 2021-06-03 |
United States Patent
Application |
20210168532 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
QI; Xin ; et al. |
June 3, 2021 |
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SUPPRESSING SOUND LEAKAGE
Abstract
A speaker comprises a housing, a transducer residing inside the
housing, and at least one sound guiding hole located on the
housing. The transducer generates vibrations. The vibrations
produce a sound wave inside the housing and cause a leaked sound
wave spreading outside the housing from a portion of the housing.
The at least one sound guiding hole guides the sound wave inside
the housing through the at least one sound guiding hole to an
outside of the housing. The guided sound wave interferes with the
leaked sound wave in a target region. The interference at a
specific frequency relates to a distance between the at least one
sound guiding hole and the portion of the housing.
Inventors: |
QI; Xin; (Shenzhen, CN)
; LIAO; Fengyun; (Shenzhen, CN) ; ZHANG; Lei;
(Shenzhen, CN) ; FU; Junjiang; (Shenzhen, CN)
; YAN; Bingyan; (Shenzhen, CN) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
SHENZHEN VOXTECH CO., LTD. |
Shenzhen |
|
CN |
|
|
Assignee: |
SHENZHEN VOXTECH CO., LTD.
Shenzhen
CN
|
Family ID: |
1000005389452 |
Appl. No.: |
17/172007 |
Filed: |
February 9, 2021 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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17074762 |
Oct 20, 2020 |
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17172007 |
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16813915 |
Mar 10, 2020 |
10848878 |
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17074762 |
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16419049 |
May 22, 2019 |
10616696 |
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16813915 |
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16180020 |
Nov 5, 2018 |
10334372 |
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16419049 |
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15650909 |
Jul 16, 2017 |
10149071 |
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16180020 |
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15109831 |
Jul 6, 2016 |
9729978 |
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PCT/CN2014/094065 |
Dec 17, 2014 |
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15650909 |
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PCT/CN2020/083631 |
Apr 8, 2020 |
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15109831 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04R 2460/13 20130101;
H04R 9/066 20130101; G10K 9/13 20130101; G10K 11/175 20130101; H04R
25/505 20130101; G10K 9/22 20130101; G10K 11/178 20130101; H04R
1/2811 20130101; G10K 11/26 20130101; G10K 2210/3216 20130101; H04R
1/2876 20130101; H04R 17/00 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04R 25/00 20060101
H04R025/00; H04R 1/28 20060101 H04R001/28; H04R 9/06 20060101
H04R009/06; G10K 9/13 20060101 G10K009/13; G10K 9/22 20060101
G10K009/22; G10K 11/178 20060101 G10K011/178; G10K 11/26 20060101
G10K011/26; G10K 11/175 20060101 G10K011/175 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jan 6, 2014 |
CN |
201410005804.0 |
Apr 30, 2019 |
CN |
201910364346.2 |
Sep 19, 2019 |
CN |
201910888067.6 |
Sep 19, 2019 |
CN |
201910888762.2 |
Claims
1. A speaker, comprising: a housing; a transducer residing inside
the housing and configured to generate vibrations, the vibrations
producing a sound wave inside the housing and causing a leaked
sound wave spreading outside the housing from a portion of the
housing; at least one sound guiding hole located on the housing and
configured to guide the sound wave inside the housing through the
at least one sound guiding hole to an outside of the housing, the
guided sound wave having a phase different from a phase of the
leaked sound wave, the guided sound wave interfering with the
leaked sound wave in a target region; a power source assembly
configured to provide electrical power; a controller configured to
cause the speaker to generate sound; and a Bluetooth low energy
(BLE) module configured to establish communication between the
speaker and a terminal device of a user.
2. The speaker of claim 1, wherein the power source assembly, the
controller, and the BLE module are disposed in the housing.
3. The speaker of claim 1, wherein the BLE module is configured to
transmit data from the speaker to the terminal device.
4. The speaker of claim 3, wherein to transmit the data, the BLE
module is configured to: encode the data to be transmitted to the
terminal device; generate a BLE data packet based on the encoded
data and attributes of the data; modulate the BLE data packet onto
a BLE channel; and transmit the modulated BLE data packet to the
terminal device through the BLE channel.
5. The speaker of claim 1, wherein the BLE module is further
configured to determine a location of the user.
6. The speaker of claim 5, wherein to determine the location of the
user, the BLE module is configured to: scan position tags around
the speaker; obtain messages related to one or more detected
position tags within a scanning window; determine one or more
parameters associated with the messages; and calculate the location
of the speaker based on the messages and the one or more parameters
associated with the messages.
7. The speaker of claim 2, further comprising a flexible circuit
board including one or more bonding pads or one or more flexible
wires.
8. The speaker of claim 7, wherein the BLE module is integrated on
a same circuit board with the controller and the transducer, and
the circuit board is connected to the power source assembly through
the flexible circuit board.
9. The speaker of claim 1, wherein the controller is further
configured to control the power source assembly.
10. The speaker of claim 9, wherein to control the power source
assembly, the controller is further configured to: receive state
information of the power source assembly; and generate an
instruction to control the power source assembly based on the state
information of the power source assembly.
11. The speaker of claim 10, wherein the state information of the
power source assembly incudes at least one of an on/off state,
state of charge, time for use, a charging time.
12. The speaker of claim 2, wherein the controller is further
configured to: receive a sound signal from the user; and generate a
control instruction related to the sound signal to control the
transducer.
13. The speaker of claim 1, wherein the power source assembly
includes a battery and a flexible circuit board.
14. The speaker of claim 13, wherein the battery includes a body
region and a sealing region, the sealing region being disposed
between the flexible circuit board and the body region, and being
connected to the flexible circuit board and the body region.
15. The speaker of claim 13, wherein the flexible circuit board
includes a first board and a second board.
16. The speaker of claim 15, wherein the controller is connected to
the BLE module based on the first board through external wires.
17. The speaker of claim 15, wherein the controller is connected to
the battery based on the second board through external wires.
18. The speaker of claim 14, wherein the power source assembly
further includes a hard circuit board disposed in the sealing
region, the hard circuit board being provided with a protection
circuit to protect the battery from overloading.
19. The speaker of claim 1, wherein the at least one sound guiding
hole includes a damping layer, the damping layer being configured
to adjust the phase of the guided sound wave in the target
region.
20. The speaker of claim 1, wherein the guided sound wave includes
at least two sound waves having different phases.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 17/074,762 filed on Oct. 20, 2020,
which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No.
16/813,915 (now U.S. Pat. No. 10,848,878) filed on Mar. 10, 2020,
which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.
16/419,049 (now U.S. Pat. No. 10,616,696) filed on May 22, 2019,
which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.
16/180,020 (now U.S. Pat. No. 10,334,372) filed on Nov. 5, 2018,
which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.
15/650,909 (now U.S. Pat. No. 10,149,071) filed on Jul. 16, 2017,
which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.
15/109,831 (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,729,978) filed on Jul. 6, 2016,
which is a U.S. National Stage entry under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 371 of
International Application No. PCT/CN2014/094065 filed on Dec. 17,
2014, designating the United States of America, which claims
priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201410005804.0, filed on
Jan. 6, 2014; the present application is a continuation-in-part of
International Application No. PCT/CN2020/083631 filed on Apr. 8,
2020, which claims priority to Chinese Application No.
201910888067.6, filed on Sep. 19, 2019, Chinese Application No.
201910888762.2, filed on Sep. 19, 2019, and Chinese Application No.
201910364346.2, filed on Apr. 30, 2019. Each of the
above-referenced applications is hereby incorporated by
reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This application relates to a bone conduction device, and
more specifically, relates to methods and systems for reducing
sound leakage by a bone conduction device.
BACKGROUND
[0003] A bone conduction speaker, which may be also called a
vibration speaker, may push human tissues and bones to stimulate
the auditory nerve in cochlea and enable people to hear sound. The
bone conduction speaker is also called a bone conduction
headphone.
[0004] An exemplary structure of a bone conduction speaker based on
the principle of the bone conduction speaker is shown in FIGS. 1A
and 1B. The bone conduction speaker may include an open housing
110, a vibration board 121, a transducer 122, and a linking
component 123. The transducer 122 may transduce electrical signals
to mechanical vibrations. The vibration board 121 may be connected
to the transducer 122 and vibrate synchronically with the
transducer 122. The vibration board 121 may stretch out from the
opening of the housing 110 and contact with human skin to pass
vibrations to auditory nerves through human tissues and bones,
which in turn enables people to hear sound. The linking component
123 may reside between the transducer 122 and the housing 110,
configured to fix the vibrating transducer 122 inside the housing
110. To minimize its effect on the vibrations generated by the
transducer 122, the linking component 123 may be made of an elastic
material.
[0005] However, the mechanical vibrations generated by the
transducer 122 may not only cause the vibration board 121 to
vibrate, but may also cause the housing 110 to vibrate through the
linking component 123. Accordingly, the mechanical vibrations
generated by the bone conduction speaker may push human tissues
through the bone board 121, and at the same time a portion of the
vibrating board 121 and the housing 110 that are not in contact
with human issues may nevertheless push air. Air sound may thus be
generated by the air pushed by the portion of the vibrating board
121 and the housing 110. The air sound may be called "sound
leakage." In some cases, sound leakage is harmless. However, sound
leakage should be avoided as much as possible if people intend to
protect privacy when using the bone conduction speaker or try not
to disturb others when listening to music.
[0006] Attempting to solve the problem of sound leakage, Korean
patent KR10-2009-0082999 discloses a bone conduction speaker of a
dual magnetic structure and double-frame. As shown in FIG. 2, the
speaker disclosed in the patent includes: a first frame 210 with an
open upper portion and a second frame 220 that surrounds the
outside of the first frame 210. The second frame 220 is separately
placed from the outside of the first frame 210. The first frame 210
includes a movable coil 230 with electric signals, an inner
magnetic component 240, an outer magnetic component 250, a magnet
field formed between the inner magnetic component 240, and the
outer magnetic component 250. The inner magnetic component 240 and
the out magnetic component 250 may vibrate by the attraction and
repulsion force of the coil 230 placed in the magnet field. A
vibration board 260 connected to the moving coil 230 may receive
the vibration of the moving coil 230. A vibration unit 270
connected to the vibration board 260 may pass the vibration to a
user by contacting with the skin. As described in the patent, the
second frame 220 surrounds the first frame 210, in order to use the
second frame 220 to prevent the vibration of the first frame 210
from dissipating the vibration to outsides, and thus may reduce
sound leakage to some extent.
[0007] However, in this design, since the second frame 220 is fixed
to the first frame 210, vibrations of the second frame 220 are
inevitable. As a result, sealing by the second frame 220 is
unsatisfactory. Furthermore, the second frame 220 increases the
whole volume and weight of the speaker, which in turn increases the
cost, complicates the assembly process, and reduces the speaker's
reliability and consistency.
SUMMARY
[0008] The embodiments of the present application disclose methods
and system of reducing sound leakage of a bone conduction
speaker.
[0009] In one aspect, the embodiments of the present application
disclose a method of reducing sound leakage of a bone conduction
speaker, including:
[0010] providing a bone conduction speaker including a vibration
board fitting human skin and passing vibrations, a transducer, and
a housing, wherein at least one sound guiding hole is located in at
least one portion of the housing;
[0011] the transducer drives the vibration board to vibrate;
[0012] the housing vibrates, along with the vibrations of the
transducer, and pushes air, forming a leaked sound wave transmitted
in the air;
[0013] the air inside the housing is pushed out of the housing
through the at least one sound guiding hole, interferes with the
leaked sound wave, and reduces an amplitude of the leaked sound
wave.
[0014] In some embodiments, one or more sound guiding holes may
locate in an upper portion, a central portion, and/or a lower
portion of a sidewall and/or the bottom of the housing.
[0015] In some embodiments, a damping layer may be applied in the
at least one sound guiding hole in order to adjust the phase and
amplitude of the guided sound wave through the at least one sound
guiding hole.
[0016] In some embodiments, sound guiding holes may be configured
to generate guided sound waves having a same phase that reduce the
leaked sound wave having a same wavelength; sound guiding holes may
be configured to generate guided sound waves having different
phases that reduce the leaked sound waves having different
wavelengths.
[0017] In some embodiments, different portions of a same sound
guiding hole may be configured to generate guided sound waves
having a same phase that reduce the leaked sound wave having same
wavelength. In some embodiments, different portions of a same sound
guiding hole may be configured to generate guided sound waves
having different phases that reduce leaked sound waves having
different wavelengths.
[0018] In another aspect, the embodiments of the present
application disclose a bone conduction speaker, including a
housing, a vibration board and a transducer, wherein:
[0019] the transducer is configured to generate vibrations and is
located inside the housing;
[0020] the vibration board is configured to be in contact with skin
and pass vibrations;
[0021] At least one sound guiding hole may locate in at least one
portion on the housing, and preferably, the at least one sound
guiding hole may be configured to guide a sound wave inside the
housing, resulted from vibrations of the air inside the housing, to
the outside of the housing, the guided sound wave interfering with
the leaked sound wave and reducing the amplitude thereof.
[0022] In some embodiments, the at least one sound guiding hole may
locate in the sidewall and/or bottom of the housing.
[0023] In some embodiments, preferably, the at least one sound
guiding sound hole may locate in the upper portion and/or lower
portion of the sidewall of the housing.
[0024] In some embodiments, preferably, the sidewall of the housing
is cylindrical and there are at least two sound guiding holes
located in the sidewall of the housing, which are arranged evenly
or unevenly in one or more circles. Alternatively, the housing may
have a different shape.
[0025] In some embodiments, preferably, the sound guiding holes
have different heights along the axial direction of the cylindrical
sidewall.
[0026] In some embodiments, preferably, there are at least two
sound guiding holes located in the bottom of the housing. In some
embodiments, the sound guiding holes are distributed evenly or
unevenly in one or more circles around the center of the bottom.
Alternatively or additionally, one sound guiding hole is located at
the center of the bottom of the housing.
[0027] In some embodiments, preferably, the sound guiding hole is a
perforative hole. In some embodiments, there may be a damping layer
at the opening of the sound guiding hole.
[0028] In some embodiments, preferably, the guided sound waves
through different sound guiding holes and/or different portions of
a same sound guiding hole have different phases or a same
phase.
[0029] In some embodiments, preferably, the damping layer is a
tuning paper, a tuning cotton, a nonwoven fabric, a silk, a cotton,
a sponge, or a rubber.
[0030] In some embodiments, preferably, the shape of a sound
guiding hole is circle, ellipse, quadrangle, rectangle, or linear.
In some embodiments, the sound guiding holes may have a same shape
or different shapes.
[0031] In some embodiments, preferably, the transducer includes a
magnetic component and a voice coil. Alternatively, the transducer
includes piezoelectric ceramic.
[0032] The design disclosed in this application utilizes the
principles of sound interference, by placing sound guiding holes in
the housing, to guide sound wave(s) inside the housing to the
outside of the housing, the guided sound wave(s) interfering with
the leaked sound wave, which is formed when the housing's
vibrations push the air outside the housing. The guided sound
wave(s) reduces the amplitude of the leaked sound wave and thus
reduces the sound leakage. The design not only reduces sound
leakage, but is also easy to implement, doesn't increase the volume
or weight of the bone conduction speaker, and barely increase the
cost of the product.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0033] FIGS. 1A and 1B are schematic structures illustrating a bone
conduction speaker of prior art;
[0034] FIG. 2 is a schematic structure illustrating another bone
conduction speaker of prior art;
[0035] FIG. 3 illustrates the principle of sound interference
according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0036] FIGS. 4A and 4B are schematic structures of an exemplary
bone conduction speaker according to some embodiments of the
present disclosure;
[0037] FIG. 4C is a schematic structure of the bone conduction
speaker according to some embodiments of the present
disclosure;
[0038] FIG. 4D is a diagram illustrating reduced sound leakage of
the bone conduction speaker according to some embodiments of the
present disclosure;
[0039] FIG. 4E is a schematic diagram illustrating exemplary
two-point sound sources according to some embodiments of the
present disclosure;
[0040] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the equal-loudness contour
curves according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0041] FIG. 6 is a flow chart of an exemplary method of reducing
sound leakage of a bone conduction speaker according to some
embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0042] FIGS. 7A and 7B are schematic structures of an exemplary
bone conduction speaker according to some embodiments of the
present disclosure;
[0043] FIG. 7C is a diagram illustrating reduced sound leakage of a
bone conduction speaker according to some embodiments of the
present disclosure;
[0044] FIGS. 8A and 8B are schematic structures of an exemplary
bone conduction speaker according to some embodiments of the
present disclosure;
[0045] FIG. 8C is a diagram illustrating reduced sound leakage of a
bone conduction speaker according to some embodiments of the
present disclosure;
[0046] FIGS. 9A and 9B are schematic structures of an exemplary
bone conduction speaker according to some embodiments of the
present disclosure;
[0047] FIG. 9C is a diagram illustrating reduced sound leakage of a
bone conduction speaker according to some embodiments of the
present disclosure;
[0048] FIGS. 10A and 10B are schematic structures of an exemplary
bone conduction speaker according to some embodiments of the
present disclosure;
[0049] FIG. 10C is a diagram illustrating reduced sound leakage of
a bone conduction speaker according to some embodiments of the
present disclosure;
[0050] FIG. 10D is a schematic diagram illustrating an acoustic
route according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0051] FIG. 10E is a schematic diagram illustrating another
acoustic route according to some embodiments of the present
disclosure;
[0052] FIG. 10F is a schematic diagram illustrating a further
acoustic route according to some embodiments of the present
disclosure;
[0053] FIGS. 11A and 11B are schematic structures of an exemplary
bone conduction speaker according to some embodiments of the
present disclosure;
[0054] FIG. 11C is a diagram illustrating reduced sound leakage of
a bone conduction speaker according to some embodiments of the
present disclosure; and
[0055] FIGS. 12A and 12B are schematic structures of an exemplary
bone conduction speaker according to some embodiments of the
present disclosure;
[0056] FIGS. 13A and 13B are schematic structures of an exemplary
bone conduction speaker according to some embodiments of the
present disclosure;
[0057] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating exemplary
components in a speaker according to some embodiments of the
present disclosure;
[0058] FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating an
interconnection of a plurality of components in a speaker according
to some embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0059] FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary
power source assembly in a speaker according to some embodiments of
the present disclosure;
[0060] FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary
bluetooth low energy (BLE) module according to some embodiments of
the present disclosure;
[0061] FIG. 18 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process
for transmitting audio data to a terminal device through a BLE
module according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;
and
[0062] FIG. 19 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process
for determining a location of a speaker using a BLE module
according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0063] The meanings of the mark numbers in the figures are as
followed:
[0064] 110, open housing; 121, vibration board; 122, transducer;
123, linking component; 210, first frame; 220, second frame; 230,
moving coil; 240, inner magnetic component; 250, outer magnetic
component; 260; vibration board; 270, vibration unit; 10, housing;
11, sidewall; 12, bottom; 21, vibration board; 22, transducer; 23,
linking component; 24, elastic component; 30, sound guiding
hole.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0065] Followings are some further detailed illustrations about
this disclosure. The following examples are for illustrative
purposes only and should not be interpreted as limitations of the
claimed invention. There are a variety of alternative techniques
and procedures available to those of ordinary skill in the art,
which would similarly permit one to successfully perform the
intended invention. In addition, the figures just show the
structures relative to this disclosure, not the whole
structure.
[0066] To explain the scheme of the embodiments of this disclosure,
the design principles of this disclosure will be introduced here.
FIG. 3 illustrates the principles of sound interference according
to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Two or more sound
waves may interfere in the space based on, for example, the
frequency and/or amplitude of the waves. Specifically, the
amplitudes of the sound waves with the same frequency may be
overlaid to generate a strengthened wave or a weakened wave. As
shown in FIG. 3, sound source 1 and sound source 2 have the same
frequency and locate in different locations in the space. The sound
waves generated from these two sound sources may encounter in an
arbitrary point A. If the phases of the sound wave 1 and sound wave
2 are the same at point A, the amplitudes of the two sound waves
may be added, generating a strengthened sound wave signal at point
A; on the other hand, if the phases of the two sound waves are
opposite at point A, their amplitudes may be offset, generating a
weakened sound wave signal at point A.
[0067] This disclosure applies above-noted the principles of sound
wave interference to a bone conduction speaker and disclose a bone
conduction speaker that can reduce sound leakage.
Embodiment One
[0068] FIGS. 4A and 4B are schematic structures of an exemplary
bone conduction speaker. The bone conduction speaker may include a
housing 10, a vibration board 21, and a transducer 22. The
transducer 22 may be inside the housing 10 and configured to
generate vibrations. The housing 10 may have one or more sound
guiding holes 30. The sound guiding hole(s) 30 may be configured to
guide sound waves inside the housing 10 to the outside of the
housing 10. In some embodiments, the guided sound waves may form
interference with leaked sound waves generated by the vibrations of
the housing 10, so as to reducing the amplitude of the leaked
sound. The transducer 22 may be configured to convert an electrical
signal to mechanical vibrations. For example, an audio electrical
signal may be transmitted into a voice coil that is placed in a
magnet, and the electromagnetic interaction may cause the voice
coil to vibrate based on the audio electrical signal. As another
example, the transducer 22 may include piezoelectric ceramics,
shape changes of which may cause vibrations in accordance with
electrical signals received.
[0069] Furthermore, the vibration board 21 may be connected to the
transducer 22 and configured to vibrate along with the transducer
22. The vibration board 21 may stretch out from the opening of the
housing 10, and touch the skin of the user and pass vibrations to
auditory nerves through human tissues and bones, which in turn
enables the user to hear sound. The linking component 23 may reside
between the transducer 22 and the housing 10, configured to fix the
vibrating transducer 122 inside the housing. The linking component
23 may include one or more separate components, or may be
integrated with the transducer 22 or the housing 10. In some
embodiments, the linking component 23 is made of an elastic
material.
[0070] The transducer 22 may drive the vibration board 21 to
vibrate. The transducer 22, which resides inside the housing 10,
may vibrate. The vibrations of the transducer 22 may drives the air
inside the housing 10 to vibrate, producing a sound wave inside the
housing 10, which can be referred to as "sound wave inside the
housing." Since the vibration board 21 and the transducer 22 are
fixed to the housing 10 via the linking component 23, the
vibrations may pass to the housing 10, causing the housing 10 to
vibrate synchronously. The vibrations of the housing 10 may
generate a leaked sound wave, which spreads outwards as sound
leakage.
[0071] The sound wave inside the housing and the leaked sound wave
are like the two sound sources in FIG. 3. In some embodiments, the
sidewall 11 of the housing 10 may have one or more sound guiding
holes 30 configured to guide the sound wave inside the housing 10
to the outside. The guided sound wave through the sound guiding
hole(s) 30 may interfere with the leaked sound wave generated by
the vibrations of the housing 10, and the amplitude of the leaked
sound wave may be reduced due to the interference, which may result
in a reduced sound leakage. Therefore, the design of this
embodiment can solve the sound leakage problem to some extent by
making an improvement of setting a sound guiding hole on the
housing, and not increasing the volume and weight of the bone
conduction speaker.
[0072] In some embodiments, one sound guiding hole 30 is set on the
upper portion of the sidewall 11. As used herein, the upper portion
of the sidewall 11 refers to the portion of the sidewall 11
starting from the top of the sidewall (contacting with the
vibration board 21) to about the 1/3 height of the sidewall.
[0073] FIG. 4C is a schematic structure of the bone conduction
speaker illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4B. The structure of the bone
conduction speaker is further illustrated with mechanics elements
illustrated in FIG. 4C. As shown in FIG. 4C, the linking component
23 between the sidewall 11 of the housing 10 and the vibration
board 21 may be represented by an elastic element 23 and a damping
element in the parallel connection. The linking relationship
between the vibration board 21 and the transducer 22 may be
represented by an elastic element 24.
[0074] Outside the housing 10, the sound leakage reduction is
proportional to
(.intg..intg..sub.S.sub.holePds-.intg..intg..sub.S.sub.housingP.sub.dds)-
, (1)
wherein S.sub.hole is the area of the opening of the sound guiding
hole 30, S.sub.housing is the area of the housing 10 (e.g., the
sidewall 11 and the bottom 12) that is not in contact with human
face.
[0075] The pressure inside the housing may be expressed as
P=P.sub.a+P.sub.b+P.sub.c+P.sub.e (2)
wherein P.sub.a, P.sub.b, P.sub.c and P.sub.e are the sound
pressures of an arbitrary point inside the housing 10 generated by
side a, side b, side c and side e (as illustrated in FIG. 4C),
respectively. As used herein, side a refers to the upper surface of
the transducer 22 that is close to the vibration board 21, side b
refers to the lower surface of the vibration board 21 that is close
to the transducer 22, side c refers to the inner upper surface of
the bottom 12 that is close to the transducer 22, and side e refers
to the lower surface of the transducer 22 that is close to the
bottom 12.
[0076] The center of the side b, O point, is set as the origin of
the space coordinates, and the side b can be set as the z=0 plane,
so P.sub.a, P.sub.b, P.sub.c and P.sub.e may be expressed as
follows:
P a ( x , y , z ) = - j .omega. .rho. 0 .intg. .intg. S a W a ( x a
' , y a ' ) e jkR ( x a ' , y a ' ) 4 .pi. R ( x a ' , y a ' ) dx a
' dy a ' - P aR , ( 3 ) P b ( x , y , z ) = - j .omega. .rho. 0
.intg. .intg. S b W b ( x ' , y ' ) e jkR ( x ' , y ' ) 4 .pi. R (
x ' , y ' ) dx ' dy ' - P b R ( 4 ) P c ( x , y , z ) = - j .omega.
.rho. 0 .intg. .intg. S c W c ( x c ' , y c ' ) e jkR ( x c ' , y c
' ) 4 .pi. R ( x c ' , y c ' ) dx c ' dy c ' - P c R , ( 5 ) P e (
x , y , z ) = - j .omega. .rho. 0 .intg. .intg. S e W e ( x e ' , y
e ' ) e jkR ( x e ' , y e ' ) 4 .pi. R ( x e ' , y e ' ) dx e ' dy
e ' - P e R , ( 6 ) ##EQU00001##
wherein R(x', y')= {square root over
((x-x').sup.2+(y-y').sup.2+z.sup.2)} is the distance between an
observation point (x, y, z) and a point on side b (x', y', 0);
S.sub.a, S.sub.b, S.sub.c and S.sub.e are the areas of side a, side
b, side c and side e, respectively; R(x.sub.a', y.sub.a')= {square
root over
((x-x.sub.a').sup.2+(y-y.sub.a').sup.2+(z-z.sub.a)z.sup.2)} is the
distance between the observation point (x, y, z) and a point on
side a (x.sub.a', y.sub.a', z.sub.a); R(x.sub.c', y.sub.c')=
{square root over
((x-x.sub.c').sup.2+(y-y.sub.c').sup.2+(z-z.sub.c)z.sup.2)} is the
distance between the observation point (x, y, z) and a point on
side c (x.sub.c', y.sub.c', z.sub.c); R(x.sub.e', y.sub.e')=
{square root over
((x-x.sub.e').sup.2+(y-y.sub.e').sup.2+(z-z.sub.e)z.sup.2)} is the
distance between the observation point (x, y, z) and a point on
side e (x.sub.e', y.sub.e', z.sub.e); k=.omega./u (u is the
velocity of sound) is wave number, .rho..sub.0 is an air density,
.omega. is an angular frequency of vibration;
[0077] P.sub.aR, P.sub.bR, P.sub.cR and P.sub.eR are acoustic
resistances of air, which respectively are:
P a R = A z a r + j.omega. z a r ' .PHI. + .delta. , ( 7 ) P b R =
A z b r + j.omega. z b r ' .PHI. + .delta. , ( 8 ) P c R = A z c r
+ j.omega. z c r ' .PHI. + .delta. , ( 9 ) P e R = A z e r +
j.omega. z e r ' .PHI. + .delta. , ( 10 ) ##EQU00002##
wherein r is the acoustic resistance per unit length, r' is the
sound quality per unit length, z.sub.a is the distance between the
observation point and side a, z.sub.b is the distance between the
observation point and side b, z.sub.c is the distance between the
observation point and side c, z.sub.e is the distance between the
observation point and side e.
[0078] W.sub.a(x,y), W.sub.b(x,y), W.sub.c(x,y), W.sub.e(x,y) and
W.sub.d(x,y) are the sound source power per unit area of side a,
side b, side c, side e and side d, respectively, which can be
derived from following formulas (11):
F.sub.e=F.sub.a=F-k.sub.1 cos
.omega.t-.intg..intg..sub.S.sub.aW.sub.a(x,y)dxdy-.intg..intg..sub.S.sub.-
eW.sub.e(x,y)dxdy-f
F.sub.b=-F+k.sub.1 cos
.omega.t+.intg..intg..sub.S.sub.bW.sub.b(x,y)dxdy-.intg..intg..sub.S.sub.-
eW.sub.e(x,y)dxdy-L
F.sub.c=F.sub.d=F.sub.b-k.sub.2 cos
.omega.t-.intg..intg..sub.S.sub.cW.sub.c(x,y)dxdy-f-.gamma.
F.sub.d=F.sub.b-k.sub.2 cos
.omega.t-.intg..intg..sub.S.sub.dW.sub.d(x,y)dxdy (11)
wherein F is the driving force generated by the transducer 22,
F.sub.a, F.sub.b, F.sub.c, F.sub.d, and F.sub.e are the driving
forces of side a, side b, side c, side d and side e, respectively.
As used herein, side d is the outside surface of the bottom 12.
S.sub.d is the region of side d, f is the viscous resistance formed
in the small gap of the sidewalls, and f=.eta..DELTA.s(dv/dy).
[0079] L is the equivalent load on human face when the vibration
board acts on the human face, .gamma. is the energy dissipated on
elastic element 24, k.sub.1 and k.sub.2 are the elastic
coefficients of elastic element 23 and elastic element 24
respectively, .eta. is the fluid viscosity coefficient, dv/dy is
the velocity gradient of fluid, .DELTA.s is the cross-section area
of a subject (board), A is the amplitude, .phi. is the region of
the sound field, and .delta. is a high order minimum (which is
generated by the incompletely symmetrical shape of the
housing);
[0080] The sound pressure of an arbitrary point outside the
housing, generated by the vibration of the housing 10 is expressed
as:
P d = - j .omega. .rho. 0 .intg. .intg. W d ( x d ' , y d ' ) e jkR
( x d ' , y d ' ) 4 .pi. R ( x d ' , y d ' ) dx d ' dy d ' , ( 12 )
##EQU00003##
wherein R(x.sub.d', y.sub.d')= {square root over
((x-x.sub.d').sup.2+(y-y.sub.d').sup.2+(z-z.sub.d)z.sup.2)} is the
distance between the observation point (x, y, z) and a point on
side d (x.sub.d', y.sub.d', z.sub.d).
[0081] P.sub.a, P.sub.b, P.sub.c and P.sub.e are functions of the
position, when we set a hole on an arbitrary position in the
housing, if the area of the hole is S.sub.hole, the sound pressure
of the hole is .intg..intg..sub.S.sub.hole Pds.
[0082] In the meanwhile, because the vibration board 21 fits human
tissues tightly, the power it gives out is absorbed all by human
tissues, so the only side that can push air outside the housing to
vibrate is side d, thus forming sound leakage. As described
elsewhere, the sound leakage is resulted from the vibrations of the
housing 10. For illustrative purposes, the sound pressure generated
by the housing 10 may be expressed as
.intg..intg..sub.S.sub.housing P.sub.dds.
[0083] The leaked sound wave and the guided sound wave interference
may result in a weakened sound wave, i.e., to make
.intg..intg..sub.S.sub.hole Pds and .intg..intg..sub.S.sub.housing
P.sub.dds have the same value but opposite directions, and the
sound leakage may be reduced. In some embodiments,
.intg..intg..sub.S.sub.hole Pds may be adjusted to reduce the sound
leakage. Since .intg..intg..sub.S.sub.hole Pds corresponds to
information of phases and amplitudes of one or more holes, which
further relates to dimensions of the housing of the bone conduction
speaker, the vibration frequency of the transducer, the position,
shape, quantity and/or size of the sound guiding holes and whether
there is damping inside the holes. Thus, the position, shape, and
quantity of sound guiding holes, and/or damping materials may be
adjusted to reduce sound leakage.
[0084] According to the formulas above, a person having ordinary
skill in the art would understand that the effectiveness of
reducing sound leakage is related to the dimensions of the housing
of the bone conduction speaker, the vibration frequency of the
transducer, the position, shape, quantity and size of the sound
guiding hole(s) and whether there is damping inside the sound
guiding hole(s). Accordingly, various configurations, depending on
specific needs, may be obtained by choosing specific position where
the sound guiding hole(s) is located, the shape and/or quantity of
the sound guiding hole(s) as well as the damping material.
[0085] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the equal-loudness contour
curves according to some embodiments of the present disclose. The
horizontal coordinate is frequency, while the vertical coordinate
is sound pressure level (SPL). As used herein, the SPL refers to
the change of atmospheric pressure after being disturbed, i.e., a
surplus pressure of the atmospheric pressure, which is equivalent
to an atmospheric pressure added to a pressure change caused by the
disturbance. As a result, the sound pressure may reflect the
amplitude of a sound wave. In FIG. 5, on each curve, sound pressure
levels corresponding to different frequencies are different, while
the loudness levels felt by human ears are the same. For example,
each curve is labeled with a number representing the loudness level
of said curve. According to the loudness level curves, when volume
(sound pressure amplitude) is lower, human ears are not sensitive
to sounds of high or low frequencies; when volume is higher, human
ears are more sensitive to sounds of high or low frequencies. Bone
conduction speakers may generate sound relating to different
frequency ranges, such as 1000 Hz.about.4000 Hz, or 1000
Hz.about.4000 Hz, or 1000 Hz.about.3500 Hz, or 1000 Hz.about.3000
Hz, or 1500 Hz.about.3000 Hz. The sound leakage within the
above-mentioned frequency ranges may be the sound leakage aimed to
be reduced with a priority.
[0086] FIG. 4D is a diagram illustrating the effect of reduced
sound leakage according to some embodiments of the present
disclosure, wherein the test results and calculation results are
close in the above range. The bone conduction speaker being tested
includes a cylindrical housing, which includes a sidewall and a
bottom, as described in FIGS. 4A and 4B. The cylindrical housing is
in a cylinder shape having a radius of 22 mm, the sidewall height
of 14 mm, and a plurality of sound guiding holes being set on the
upper portion of the sidewall of the housing. The openings of the
sound guiding holes are rectangle. The sound guiding holes are
arranged evenly on the sidewall. The target region where the sound
leakage is to be reduced is 50 cm away from the outside of the
bottom of the housing. The distance of the leaked sound wave
spreading to the target region and the distance of the sound wave
spreading from the surface of the transducer 20 through the sound
guiding holes 30 to the target region have a difference of about
180 degrees in phase. As shown, the leaked sound wave is reduced in
the target region dramatically or even be eliminated.
[0087] According to the embodiments in this disclosure, the
effectiveness of reducing sound leakage after setting sound guiding
holes is very obvious. As shown in FIG. 4D, the bone conduction
speaker having sound guiding holes greatly reduce the sound leakage
compared to the bone conduction speaker without sound guiding
holes.
[0088] In the tested frequency range, after setting sound guiding
holes, the sound leakage is reduced by about 10 dB on average.
Specifically, in the frequency range of 1500 Hz.about.3000 Hz, the
sound leakage is reduced by over 10 dB. In the frequency range of
2000 Hz.about.2500 Hz, the sound leakage is reduced by over 20 dB
compared to the scheme without sound guiding holes.
[0089] A person having ordinary skill in the art can understand
from the above-mentioned formulas that when the dimensions of the
bone conduction speaker, target regions to reduce sound leakage and
frequencies of sound waves differ, the position, shape and quantity
of sound guiding holes also need to adjust accordingly.
[0090] For example, in a cylinder housing, according to different
needs, a plurality of sound guiding holes may be on the sidewall
and/or the bottom of the housing. Preferably, the sound guiding
hole may be set on the upper portion and/or lower portion of the
sidewall of the housing. The quantity of the sound guiding holes
set on the sidewall of the housing is no less than two. Preferably,
the sound guiding holes may be arranged evenly or unevenly in one
or more circles with respect to the center of the bottom. In some
embodiments, the sound guiding holes may be arranged in at least
one circle. In some embodiments, one sound guiding hole may be set
on the bottom of the housing. In some embodiments, the sound
guiding hole may be set at the center of the bottom of the
housing.
[0091] The quantity of the sound guiding holes can be one or more.
Preferably, multiple sound guiding holes may be set symmetrically
on the housing. In some embodiments, there are 6-8 circularly
arranged sound guiding holes.
[0092] The openings (and cross sections) of sound guiding holes may
be circle, ellipse, rectangle, or slit. Slit generally means slit
along with straight lines, curve lines, or arc lines. Different
sound guiding holes in one bone conduction speaker may have same or
different shapes.
[0093] A person having ordinary skill in the art can understand
that, the sidewall of the housing may not be cylindrical, the sound
guiding holes can be arranged asymmetrically as needed. Various
configurations may be obtained by setting different combinations of
the shape, quantity, and position of the sound guiding. Some other
embodiments along with the figures are described as follows.
[0094] In some embodiments, the leaked sound wave may be generated
by a portion of the housing 10. The portion of the housing may be
the sidewall 11 of the housing 10 and/or the bottom 12 of the
housing 10. Merely by way of example, the leaked sound wave may be
generated by the bottom 12 of the housing 10. The guided sound wave
output through the sound guiding hole(s) 30 may interfere with the
leaked sound wave generated by the portion of the housing 10. The
interference may enhance or reduce a sound pressure level of the
guided sound wave and/or leaked sound wave in the target
region.
[0095] In some embodiments, the portion of the housing 10 that
generates the leaked sound wave may be regarded as a first sound
source (e.g., the sound source 1 illustrated in FIG. 3), and the
sound guiding hole(s) 30 or a part thereof may be regarded as a
second sound source (e.g., the sound source 2 illustrated in FIG.
3). Merely for illustration purposes, if the size of the sound
guiding hole on the housing 10 is small, the sound guiding hole may
be approximately regarded as a point sound source. In some
embodiments, any number or count of sound guiding holes provided on
the housing 10 for outputting sound may be approximated as a single
point sound source. Similarly, for simplicity, the portion of the
housing 10 that generates the leaked sound wave may also be
approximately regarded as a point sound source. In some
embodiments, both the first sound source and the second sound
source may approximately be regarded as point sound sources (also
referred to as two-point sound sources).
[0096] FIG. 4E is a schematic diagram illustrating exemplary
two-point sound sources according to some embodiments of the
present disclosure. The sound field pressure p generated by a
single point sound source may satisfy Equation (13):
p = j .omega. .rho. 0 4 .pi. r Q 0 exp j ( .omega. t - kr ) , ( 13
) ##EQU00004##
where .omega. denotes an angular frequency, .rho..sub.0 denotes an
air density, r denotes a distance between a target point and the
sound source, Q.sub.0 denotes a volume velocity of the sound
source, and k denotes a wave number. It may be concluded that the
magnitude of the sound field pressure of the sound field of the
point sound source is inversely proportional to the distance to the
point sound source.
[0097] It should be noted that, the sound guiding hole(s) for
outputting sound as a point sound source may only serve as an
explanation of the principle and effect of the present disclosure,
and the shape and/or size of the sound guiding hole(s) may not be
limited in practical applications. In some embodiments, if the area
of the sound guiding hole is large, the sound guiding hole may also
be equivalent to a planar sound source. Similarly, if an area of
the portion of the housing 10 that generates the leaked sound wave
is large (e.g., the portion of the housing 10 is a vibration
surface or a sound radiation surface), the portion of the housing
10 may also be equivalent to a planar sound source. For those
skilled in the art, without creative activities, it may be known
that sounds generated by structures such as sound guiding holes,
vibration surfaces, and sound radiation surfaces may be equivalent
to point sound sources at the spatial scale discussed in the
present disclosure, and may have consistent sound propagation
characteristics and the same mathematical description method.
Further, for those skilled in the art, without creative activities,
it may be known that the acoustic effect achieved by the two-point
sound sources may also be implemented by alternative acoustic
structures. According to actual situations, the alternative
acoustic structures may be modified and/or combined
discretionarily, and the same acoustic output effect may be
achieved.
[0098] The two-point sound sources may be formed such that the
guided sound wave output from the sound guiding hole(s) may
interfere with the leaked sound wave generated by the portion of
the housing 10. The interference may reduce a sound pressure level
of the leaked sound wave in the surrounding environment (e.g., the
target region). For convenience, the sound waves output from an
acoustic output device (e.g., the bone conduction speaker) to the
surrounding environment may be referred to as far-field leakage
since it may be heard by others in the environment. The sound waves
output from the acoustic output device to the ears of the user may
also be referred to as near-field sound since a distance between
the bone conduction speaker and the user may be relatively short.
In some embodiments, the sound waves output from the two-point
sound sources may have a same frequency or frequency range (e.g.,
800 Hz, 1000 Hz, 1500 Hz, 3000 Hz, etc.). In some embodiments, the
sound waves output from the two-point sound sources may have a
certain phase difference. In some embodiments, the sound guiding
hole includes a damping layer. The damping layer may be, for
example, a tuning paper, a tuning cotton, a nonwoven fabric, a
silk, a cotton, a sponge, or a rubber. The damping layer may be
configured to adjust the phase of the guided sound wave in the
target region. The acoustic output device described herein may
include a bone conduction speaker or an air conduction speaker. For
example, a portion of the housing (e.g., the bottom of the housing)
of the bone conduction speaker may be treated as one of the
two-point sound sources, and at least one sound guiding holes of
the bone conduction speaker may be treated as the other one of the
two-point sound sources. As another example, one sound guiding hole
of an air conduction speaker may be treated as one of the two-point
sound sources, and another sound guiding hole of the air conduction
speaker may be treated as the other one of the two-point sound
sources. It should be noted that, although the construction of
two-point sound sources may be different in bone conduction speaker
and air conduction speaker, the principles of the interference
between the various constructed two-point sound sources are the
same. Thus, the equivalence of the two-point sound sources in a
bone conduction speaker disclosed elsewhere in the present
disclosure is also applicable for an air conduction speaker.
[0099] In some embodiments, when the position and phase difference
of the two-point sound sources meet certain conditions, the
acoustic output device may output different sound effects in the
near field (for example, the position of the user's ear) and the
far field. For example, if the phases of the point sound sources
corresponding to the portion of the housing 10 and the sound
guiding hole(s) are opposite, that is, an absolute value of the
phase difference between the two-point sound sources is 180
degrees, the far-field leakage may be reduced according to the
principle of reversed phase cancellation.
[0100] In some embodiments, the interference between the guided
sound wave and the leaked sound wave at a specific frequency may
relate to a distance between the sound guiding hole(s) and the
portion of the housing 10. For example, if the sound guiding
hole(s) are set at the upper portion of the sidewall of the housing
10 (as illustrated in FIG. 4A), the distance between the sound
guiding hole(s) and the portion of the housing 10 may be large.
Correspondingly, the frequencies of sound waves generated by such
two-point sound sources may be in a mid-low frequency range (e.g.,
1500-2000 Hz, 1500-2500 Hz, etc.). Referring to FIG. 4D, the
interference may reduce the sound pressure level of the leaked
sound wave in the mid-low frequency range (i.e., the sound leakage
is low).
[0101] Merely by way of example, the low frequency range may refer
to frequencies in a range below a first frequency threshold. The
high frequency range may refer to frequencies in a range exceed a
second frequency threshold. The first frequency threshold may be
lower than the second frequency threshold. The mid-low frequency
range may refer to frequencies in a range between the first
frequency threshold and the second frequency threshold. For
example, the first frequency threshold may be 1000 Hz, and the
second frequency threshold may be 3000 Hz. The low frequency range
may refer to frequencies in a range below 1000 Hz, the high
frequency range may refer to frequencies in a range above 3000 Hz,
and the mid-low frequency range may refer to frequencies in a range
of 1000-2000 Hz, 1500-2500 Hz, etc. In some embodiments, a middle
frequency range, a mid-high frequency range may also be determined
between the first frequency threshold and the second frequency
threshold. In some embodiments, the mid-low frequency range and the
low frequency range may partially overlap. The mid-high frequency
range and the high frequency range may partially overlap. For
example, the mid-high frequency range may refer to frequencies in a
range above 3000 Hz, and the mid-low frequency range may refer to
frequencies in a range of 2800-3500 Hz. It should be noted that the
low frequency range, the mid-low frequency range, the middle
frequency range, the mid-high frequency range, and/or the high
frequency range may be set flexibly according to different
situations, and are not limited herein.
[0102] In some embodiments, the frequencies of the guided sound
wave and the leaked sound wave may be set in a low frequency range
(e.g., below 800 Hz, below 1200 Hz, etc.). In some embodiments, the
amplitudes of the sound waves generated by the two-point sound
sources may be set to be different in the low frequency range. For
example, the amplitude of the guided sound wave may be smaller than
the amplitude of the leaked sound wave. In this case, the
interference may not reduce sound pressure of the near-field sound
in the low-frequency range. The sound pressure of the near-field
sound may be improved in the low-frequency range. The volume of the
sound heard by the user may be improved.
[0103] In some embodiments, the amplitude of the guided sound wave
may be adjusted by setting an acoustic resistance structure in the
sound guiding hole(s) 30. The material of the acoustic resistance
structure disposed in the sound guiding hole 30 may include, but
not limited to, plastics (e.g., high-molecular polyethylene, blown
nylon, engineering plastics, etc.), cotton, nylon, fiber (e.g.,
glass fiber, carbon fiber, boron fiber, graphite fiber, graphene
fiber, silicon carbide fiber, or aramid fiber), other single or
composite materials, other organic and/or inorganic materials, etc.
The thickness of the acoustic resistance structure may be 0.005 mm,
0.01 mm, 0.02 mm, 0.5 mm, 1 mm, 2 mm, etc. The structure of the
acoustic resistance structure may be in a shape adapted to the
shape of the sound guiding hole. For example, the acoustic
resistance structure may have a shape of a cylinder, a sphere, a
cubic, etc. In some embodiments, the materials, thickness, and
structures of the acoustic resistance structure may be modified
and/or combined to obtain a desirable acoustic resistance
structure. In some embodiments, the acoustic resistance structure
may be implemented by the damping layer.
[0104] In some embodiments, the amplitude of the guided sound wave
output from the sound guiding hole may be relatively low (e.g.,
zero or almost zero). The difference between the guided sound wave
and the leaked sound wave may be maximized, thus achieving a
relatively large sound pressure in the near field. In this case,
the sound leakage of the acoustic output device having sound
guiding holes may be almost the same as the sound leakage of the
acoustic output device without sound guiding holes in the low
frequency range (e.g., as shown in FIG. 4D).
Embodiment Two
[0105] FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an exemplary method of reducing
sound leakage of a bone conduction speaker according to some
embodiments of the present disclosure. At 601, a bone conduction
speaker including a vibration plate 21 touching human skin and
passing vibrations, a transducer 22, and a housing 10 is provided.
At least one sound guiding hole 30 is arranged on the housing 10.
At 602, the vibration plate 21 is driven by the transducer 22,
causing the vibration 21 to vibrate. At 603, a leaked sound wave
due to the vibrations of the housing is formed, wherein the leaked
sound wave transmits in the air. At 604, a guided sound wave
passing through the at least one sound guiding hole 30 from the
inside to the outside of the housing 10. The guided sound wave
interferes with the leaked sound wave, reducing the sound leakage
of the bone conduction speaker.
[0106] The sound guiding holes 30 are preferably set at different
positions of the housing 10.
[0107] The effectiveness of reducing sound leakage may be
determined by the formulas and method as described above, based on
which the positions of sound guiding holes may be determined.
[0108] A damping layer is preferably set in a sound guiding hole 30
to adjust the phase and amplitude of the sound wave transmitted
through the sound guiding hole 30.
[0109] In some embodiments, different sound guiding holes may
generate different sound waves having a same phase to reduce the
leaked sound wave having the same wavelength. In some embodiments,
different sound guiding holes may generate different sound waves
having different phases to reduce the leaked sound waves having
different wavelengths.
[0110] In some embodiments, different portions of a sound guiding
hole 30 may be configured to generate sound waves having a same
phase to reduce the leaked sound waves with the same wavelength. In
some embodiments, different portions of a sound guiding hole 30 may
be configured to generate sound waves having different phases to
reduce the leaked sound waves with different wavelengths.
[0111] Additionally, the sound wave inside the housing may be
processed to basically have the same value but opposite phases with
the leaked sound wave, so that the sound leakage may be further
reduced.
Embodiment Three
[0112] FIGS. 7A and 7B are schematic structures illustrating an
exemplary bone conduction speaker according to some embodiments of
the present disclosure. The bone conduction speaker may include an
open housing 10, a vibration board 21, and a transducer 22. The
housing 10 may cylindrical and have a sidewall and a bottom. A
plurality of sound guiding holes 30 may be arranged on the lower
portion of the sidewall (i.e., from about the 2/3 height of the
sidewall to the bottom). The quantity of the sound guiding holes 30
may be 8, the openings of the sound guiding holes 30 may be
rectangle. The sound guiding holes 30 may be arranged evenly or
evenly in one or more circles on the sidewall of the housing
10.
[0113] In the embodiment, the transducer 22 is preferably
implemented based on the principle of electromagnetic transduction.
The transducer may include components such as magnetizer, voice
coil, and etc., and the components may locate inside the housing
and may generate synchronous vibrations with a same frequency.
[0114] FIG. 7C is a diagram illustrating reduced sound leakage
according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In the
frequency range of 1400 Hz.about.4000 Hz, the sound leakage is
reduced by more than 5 dB, and in the frequency range of 2250
Hz.about.2500 Hz, the sound leakage is reduced by more than 20
dB.
[0115] In some embodiments, the sound guiding hole(s) at the lower
portion of the sidewall of the housing 10 may also be approximately
regarded as a point sound source. In some embodiments, the sound
guiding hole(s) at the lower portion of the sidewall of the housing
10 and the portion of the housing 10 that generates the leaked
sound wave may constitute two-point sound sources. The two-point
sound sources may be formed such that the guided sound wave output
from the sound guiding hole(s) at the lower portion of the sidewall
of the housing 10 may interfere with the leaked sound wave
generated by the portion of the housing 10. The interference may
reduce a sound pressure level of the leaked sound wave in the
surrounding environment (e.g., the target region) at a specific
frequency or frequency range.
[0116] In some embodiments, the sound waves output from the
two-point sound sources may have a same frequency or frequency
range (e.g., 1000 Hz, 2500 Hz, 3000 Hz, etc.). In some embodiments,
the sound waves output from the first two-point sound sources may
have a certain phase difference. In this case, the interference
between the sound waves generated by the first two-point sound
sources may reduce a sound pressure level of the leaked sound wave
in the target region. When the position and phase difference of the
first two-point sound sources meet certain conditions, the acoustic
output device may output different sound effects in the near field
(for example, the position of the user's ear) and the far field.
For example, if the phases of the first two-point sound sources are
opposite, that is, an absolute value of the phase difference
between the first two-point sound sources is 180 degrees, the
far-field leakage may be reduced.
[0117] In some embodiments, the interference between the guided
sound wave and the leaked sound wave may relate to frequencies of
the guided sound wave and the leaked sound wave and/or a distance
between the sound guiding hole(s) and the portion of the housing
10. For example, if the sound guiding hole(s) are set at the lower
portion of the sidewall of the housing 10 (as illustrated in FIG.
7A), the distance between the sound guiding hole(s) and the portion
of the housing 10 may be small. Correspondingly, the frequencies of
sound waves generated by such two-point sound sources may be in a
high frequency range (e.g., above 3000 Hz, above 3500 Hz, etc.).
Referring to FIG. 7C, the interference may reduce the sound
pressure level of the leaked sound wave in the high frequency
range.
Embodiment Four
[0118] FIGS. 8A and 8B are schematic structures illustrating an
exemplary bone conduction speaker according to some embodiments of
the present disclosure. The bone conduction speaker may include an
open housing 10, a vibration board 21, and a transducer 22. The
housing 10 is cylindrical and have a sidewall and a bottom. The
sound guiding holes 30 may be arranged on the central portion of
the sidewall of the housing (i.e., from about the 1/3 height of the
sidewall to the 2/3 height of the sidewall). The quantity of the
sound guiding holes 30 may be 8, and the openings (and cross
sections) of the sound guiding hole 30 may be rectangle. The sound
guiding holes 30 may be arranged evenly or unevenly in one or more
circles on the sidewall of the housing 10.
[0119] In the embodiment, the transducer 21 may be implemented
preferably based on the principle of electromagnetic transduction.
The transducer 21 may include components such as magnetizer, voice
coil, etc., which may be placed inside the housing and may generate
synchronous vibrations with the same frequency.
[0120] FIG. 8C is a diagram illustrating reduced sound leakage. In
the frequency range of 1000 Hz.about.4000 Hz, the effectiveness of
reducing sound leakage is great. For example, in the frequency
range of 1400 Hz.about.2900 Hz, the sound leakage is reduced by
more than 10 dB; in the frequency range of 2200 Hz.about.2500 Hz,
the sound leakage is reduced by more than 20 dB.
[0121] It's illustrated that the effectiveness of reduced sound
leakage can be adjusted by changing the positions of the sound
guiding holes, while keeping other parameters relating to the sound
guiding holes unchanged.
Embodiment Five
[0122] FIGS. 9A and 9B are schematic structures of an exemplary
bone conduction speaker according to some embodiments of the
present disclosure. The bone conduction speaker may include an open
housing 10, a vibration board 21 and a transducer 22. The housing
10 is cylindrical, with a sidewall and a bottom. One or more
performative sound guiding holes 30 may be along the circumference
of the bottom. In some embodiments, there may be 8 sound guiding
holes 30 arranged evenly of unevenly in one or more circles on the
bottom of the housing 10. In some embodiments, the shape of one or
more of the sound guiding holes 30 may be rectangle.
[0123] In the embodiment, the transducer 21 may be implemented
preferably based on the principle of electromagnetic transduction.
The transducer 21 may include components such as magnetizer, voice
coil, etc., which may be placed inside the housing and may generate
synchronous vibration with the same frequency.
[0124] FIG. 9C is a diagram illustrating the effect of reduced
sound leakage. In the frequency range of 1000 Hz.about.3000 Hz, the
effectiveness of reducing sound leakage is outstanding. For
example, in the frequency range of 1700 Hz.about.2700 Hz, the sound
leakage is reduced by more than 10 dB; in the frequency range of
2200 Hz.about.2400 Hz, the sound leakage is reduced by more than 20
dB.
Embodiment Six
[0125] FIGS. 10A and 10B are schematic structures of an exemplary
bone conduction speaker according to some embodiments of the
present disclosure. The bone conduction speaker may include an open
housing 10, a vibration board 21 and a transducer 22. One or more
performative sound guiding holes 30 may be arranged on both upper
and lower portions of the sidewall of the housing 10. The sound
guiding holes 30 may be arranged evenly or unevenly in one or more
circles on the upper and lower portions of the sidewall of the
housing 10. In some embodiments, the quantity of sound guiding
holes 30 in every circle may be 8, and the upper portion sound
guiding holes and the lower portion sound guiding holes may be
symmetrical about the central cross section of the housing 10. In
some embodiments, the shape of the sound guiding hole 30 may be
circle.
[0126] The shape of the sound guiding holes on the upper portion
and the shape of the sound guiding holes on the lower portion may
be different; One or more damping layers may be arranged in the
sound guiding holes to reduce leaked sound waves of the same wave
length (or frequency), or to reduce leaked sound waves of different
wave lengths.
[0127] FIG. 10C is a diagram illustrating the effect of reducing
sound leakage according to some embodiments of the present
disclosure. In the frequency range of 1000 Hz.about.4000 Hz, the
effectiveness of reducing sound leakage is outstanding. For
example, in the frequency range of 1600 Hz.about.2700 Hz, the sound
leakage is reduced by more than 15 dB; in the frequency range of
2000 Hz.about.2500 Hz, where the effectiveness of reducing sound
leakage is most outstanding, the sound leakage is reduced by more
than 20 dB. Compared to embodiment three, this scheme has a
relatively balanced effect of reduced sound leakage on various
frequency range, and this effect is better than the effect of
schemes where the height of the holes are fixed, such as schemes of
embodiment three, embodiment four, embodiment five, and so on.
[0128] In some embodiments, the sound guiding hole(s) at the upper
portion of the sidewall of the housing 10 (also referred to as
first hole(s)) may be approximately regarded as a point sound
source. In some embodiments, the first hole(s) and the portion of
the housing 10 that generates the leaked sound wave may constitute
two-point sound sources (also referred to as first two-point sound
sources). As for the first two-point sound sources, the guided
sound wave generated by the first hole(s) (also referred to as
first guided sound wave) may interfere with the leaked sound wave
or a portion thereof generated by the portion of the housing 10 in
a first region. In some embodiments, the sound waves output from
the first two-point sound sources may have a same frequency (e.g.,
a first frequency). In some embodiments, the sound waves output
from the first two-point sound sources may have a certain phase
difference. In this case, the interference between the sound waves
generated by the first two-point sound sources may reduce a sound
pressure level of the leaked sound wave in the target region. When
the position and phase difference of the first two-point sound
sources meet certain conditions, the acoustic output device may
output different sound effects in the near field (for example, the
position of the user's ear) and the far field. For example, if the
phases of the first two-point sound sources are opposite, that is,
an absolute value of the phase difference between the first
two-point sound sources is 180 degrees, the far-field leakage may
be reduced according to the principle of reversed phase
cancellation.
[0129] In some embodiments, the sound guiding hole(s) at the lower
portion of the sidewall of the housing 10 (also referred to as
second hole(s)) may also be approximately regarded as another point
sound source. Similarly, the second hole(s) and the portion of the
housing 10 that generates the leaked sound wave may also constitute
two-point sound sources (also referred to as second two-point sound
sources). As for the second two-point sound sources, the guided
sound wave generated by the second hole(s) (also referred to as
second guided sound wave) may interfere with the leaked sound wave
or a portion thereof generated by the portion of the housing 10 in
a second region. The second region may be the same as or different
from the first region. In some embodiments, the sound waves output
from the second two-point sound sources may have a same frequency
(e.g., a second frequency).
[0130] In some embodiments, the first frequency and the second
frequency may be in certain frequency ranges. In some embodiments,
the frequency of the guided sound wave output from the sound
guiding hole(s) may be adjustable. In some embodiments, the
frequency of the first guided sound wave and/or the second guided
sound wave may be adjusted by one or more acoustic routes. The
acoustic routes may be coupled to the first hole(s) and/or the
second hole(s). The first guided sound wave and/or the second
guided sound wave may be propagated along the acoustic route having
a specific frequency selection characteristic. That is, the first
guided sound wave and the second guided sound wave may be
transmitted to their corresponding sound guiding holes via
different acoustic routes. For example, the first guided sound wave
and/or the second guided sound wave may be propagated along an
acoustic route with a low-pass characteristic to a corresponding
sound guiding hole to output guided sound wave of a low frequency.
In this process, the high frequency component of the sound wave may
be absorbed or attenuated by the acoustic route with the low-pass
characteristic. Similarly, the first guided sound wave and/or the
second guided sound wave may be propagated along an acoustic route
with a high-pass characteristic to the corresponding sound guiding
hole to output guided sound wave of a high frequency. In this
process, the low frequency component of the sound wave may be
absorbed or attenuated by the acoustic route with the high-pass
characteristic.
[0131] FIG. 10D is a schematic diagram illustrating an acoustic
route according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG.
10E is a schematic diagram illustrating another acoustic route
according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 10F
is a schematic diagram illustrating a further acoustic route
according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some
embodiments, structures such as a sound tube, a sound cavity, a
sound resistance, etc., may be set in the acoustic route for
adjusting frequencies for the sound waves (e.g., by filtering
certain frequencies). It should be noted that FIGS. 10D-10F may be
provided as examples of the acoustic routes, and not intended be
limiting.
[0132] As shown in FIG. 10D, the acoustic route may include one or
more lumen structures. The one or more lumen structures may be
connected in series. An acoustic resistance material may be
provided in each of at least one of the one or more lumen
structures to adjust acoustic impedance of the entire structure to
achieve a desirable sound filtering effect. For example, the
acoustic impedance may be in a range of 5MKS Rayleigh to 500MKS
Rayleigh. In some embodiments, a high-pass sound filtering, a
low-pass sound filtering, and/or a band-pass filtering effect of
the acoustic route may be achieved by adjusting a size of each of
at least one of the one or more lumen structures and/or a type of
acoustic resistance material in each of at least one of the one or
more lumen structures. The acoustic resistance materials may
include, but not limited to, plastic, textile, metal, permeable
material, woven material, screen material or mesh material, porous
material, particulate material, polymer material, or the like, or
any combination thereof. By setting the acoustic routes of
different acoustic impedances, the acoustic output from the sound
guiding holes may be acoustically filtered. In this case, the
guided sound waves may have different frequency components.
[0133] As shown in FIG. 10E, the acoustic route may include one or
more resonance cavities. The one or more resonance cavities may be,
for example, Helmholtz cavity. In some embodiments, a high-pass
sound filtering, a low-pass sound filtering, and/or a band-pass
filtering effect of the acoustic route may be achieved by adjusting
a size of each of at least one of the one or more resonance
cavities and/or a type of acoustic resistance material in each of
at least one of the one or more resonance cavities.
[0134] As shown in FIG. 10F, the acoustic route may include a
combination of one or more lumen structures and one or more
resonance cavities. In some embodiments, a high-pass sound
filtering, a low-pass sound filtering, and/or a band-pass filtering
effect of the acoustic route may be achieved by adjusting a size of
each of at least one of the one or more lumen structures and one or
more resonance cavities and/or a type of acoustic resistance
material in each of at least one of the one or more lumen
structures and one or more resonance cavities. It should be noted
that the structures exemplified above may be for illustration
purposes, various acoustic structures may also be provided, such as
a tuning net, tuning cotton, etc.
[0135] In some embodiments, the interference between the leaked
sound wave and the guided sound wave may relate to frequencies of
the guided sound wave and the leaked sound wave and/or a distance
between the sound guiding hole(s) and the portion of the housing
10. In some embodiments, the portion of the housing that generates
the leaked sound wave may be the bottom of the housing 10. The
first hole(s) may have a larger distance to the portion of the
housing 10 than the second hole(s). In some embodiments, the
frequency of the first guided sound wave output from the first
hole(s) (e.g., the first frequency) and the frequency of second
guided sound wave output from second hole(s) (e.g., the second
frequency) may be different.
[0136] In some embodiments, the first frequency and second
frequency may associate with the distance between the at least one
sound guiding hole and the portion of the housing 10 that generates
the leaked sound wave. In some embodiments, the first frequency may
be set in a low frequency range. The second frequency may be set in
a high frequency range. The low frequency range and the high
frequency range may or may not overlap.
[0137] In some embodiments, the frequency of the leaked sound wave
generated by the portion of the housing 10 may be in a wide
frequency range. The wide frequency range may include, for example,
the low frequency range and the high frequency range or a portion
of the low frequency range and the high frequency range. For
example, the leaked sound wave may include a first frequency in the
low frequency range and a second frequency in the high frequency
range. In some embodiments, the leaked sound wave of the first
frequency and the leaked sound wave of the second frequency may be
generated by different portions of the housing 10. For example, the
leaked sound wave of the first frequency may be generated by the
sidewall of the housing 10, the leaked sound wave of the second
frequency may be generated by the bottom of the housing 10. As
another example, the leaked sound wave of the first frequency may
be generated by the bottom of the housing 10, the leaked sound wave
of the second frequency may be generated by the sidewall of the
housing 10. In some embodiments, the frequency of the leaked sound
wave generated by the portion of the housing 10 may relate to
parameters including the mass, the damping, the stiffness, etc., of
the different portion of the housing 10, the frequency of the
transducer 22, etc.
[0138] In some embodiments, the characteristics (amplitude,
frequency, and phase) of the first two-point sound sources and the
second two-point sound sources may be adjusted via various
parameters of the acoustic output device (e.g., electrical
parameters of the transducer 22, the mass, stiffness, size,
structure, material, etc., of the portion of the housing 10, the
position, shape, structure, and/or number (or count) of the sound
guiding hole(s) so as to form a sound field with a particular
spatial distribution. In some embodiments, a frequency of the first
guided sound wave is smaller than a frequency of the second guided
sound wave.
[0139] A combination of the first two-point sound sources and the
second two-point sound sources may improve sound effects both in
the near field and the far field.
[0140] Referring to FIGS. 4D, 7C, and 10C, by designing different
two-point sound sources with different distances, the sound leakage
in both the low frequency range and the high frequency range may be
properly suppressed. In some embodiments, the closer distance
between the second two-point sound sources may be more suitable for
suppressing the sound leakage in the far field, and the relative
longer distance between the first two-point sound sources may be
more suitable for reducing the sound leakage in the near field. In
some embodiments, the amplitudes of the sound waves generated by
the first two-point sound sources may be set to be different in the
low frequency range. For example, the amplitude of the guided sound
wave may be smaller than the amplitude of the leaked sound wave. In
this case, the sound pressure level of the near-field sound may be
improved. The volume of the sound heard by the user may be
increased.
Embodiment Seven
[0141] FIGS. 11A and 11B are schematic structures illustrating a
bone conduction speaker according to some embodiments of the
present disclosure. The bone conduction speaker may include an open
housing 10, a vibration board 21 and a transducer 22. One or more
perforative sound guiding holes 30 may be set on upper and lower
portions of the sidewall of the housing 10 and on the bottom of the
housing 10. The sound guiding holes 30 on the sidewall are arranged
evenly or unevenly in one or more circles on the upper and lower
portions of the sidewall of the housing 10. In some embodiments,
the quantity of sound guiding holes 30 in every circle may be 8,
and the upper portion sound guiding holes and the lower portion
sound guiding holes may be symmetrical about the central cross
section of the housing 10. In some embodiments, the shape of the
sound guiding hole 30 may be rectangular. There may be four sound
guiding holds 30 on the bottom of the housing 10. The four sound
guiding holes 30 may be linear-shaped along arcs, and may be
arranged evenly or unevenly in one or more circles with respect to
the center of the bottom. Furthermore, the sound guiding holes 30
may include a circular perforative hole on the center of the
bottom.
[0142] FIG. 11C is a diagram illustrating the effect of reducing
sound leakage of the embodiment. In the frequency range of 1000
Hz.about.4000 Hz, the effectiveness of reducing sound leakage is
outstanding. For example, in the frequency range of 1300
Hz.about.3000 Hz, the sound leakage is reduced by more than 10 dB;
in the frequency range of 2000 Hz.about.2700 Hz, the sound leakage
is reduced by more than 20 dB. Compared to embodiment three, this
scheme has a relatively balanced effect of reduced sound leakage
within various frequency range, and this effect is better than the
effect of schemes where the height of the holes are fixed, such as
schemes of embodiment three, embodiment four, embodiment five, and
etc. Compared to embodiment six, in the frequency range of 1000
Hz.about.1700 Hz and 2500 Hz.about.4000 Hz, this scheme has a
better effect of reduced sound leakage than embodiment six.
Embodiment Eight
[0143] FIGS. 12A and 12B are schematic structures illustrating a
bone conduction speaker according to some embodiments of the
present disclosure. The bone conduction speaker may include an open
housing 10, a vibration board 21 and a transducer 22. A perforative
sound guiding hole 30 may be set on the upper portion of the
sidewall of the housing 10. One or more sound guiding holes may be
arranged evenly or unevenly in one or more circles on the upper
portion of the sidewall of the housing 10. There may be 8 sound
guiding holes 30, and the shape of the sound guiding holes 30 may
be circle.
[0144] After comparison of calculation results and test results,
the effectiveness of this embodiment is basically the same with
that of embodiment one, and this embodiment can effectively reduce
sound leakage.
Embodiment Nine
[0145] FIGS. 13A and 13B are schematic structures illustrating a
bone conduction speaker according to some embodiments of the
present disclosure. The bone conduction speaker may include an open
housing 10, a vibration board 21 and a transducer 22.
[0146] The difference between this embodiment and the
above-described embodiment three is that to reduce sound leakage to
greater extent, the sound guiding holes 30 may be arranged on the
upper, central and lower portions of the sidewall 11. The sound
guiding holes 30 are arranged evenly or unevenly in one or more
circles. Different circles are formed by the sound guiding holes
30, one of which is set along the circumference of the bottom 12 of
the housing 10. The size of the sound guiding holes 30 are the
same.
[0147] The effect of this scheme may cause a relatively balanced
effect of reducing sound leakage in various frequency ranges
compared to the schemes where the position of the holes are fixed.
The effect of this design on reducing sound leakage is relatively
better than that of other designs where the heights of the holes
are fixed, such as embodiment three, embodiment four, embodiment
five, etc.
Embodiment Ten
[0148] The sound guiding holes 30 in the above embodiments may be
perforative holes without shields.
[0149] In order to adjust the effect of the sound waves guided from
the sound guiding holes, a damping layer (not shown in the figures)
may locate at the opening of a sound guiding hole 30 to adjust the
phase and/or the amplitude of the sound wave.
[0150] There are multiple variations of materials and positions of
the damping layer. For example, the damping layer may be made of
materials which can damp sound waves, such as tuning paper, tuning
cotton, nonwoven fabric, silk, cotton, sponge or rubber. The
damping layer may be attached on the inner wall of the sound
guiding hole 30, or may shield the sound guiding hole 30 from
outside.
[0151] More preferably, the damping layers corresponding to
different sound guiding holes 30 may be arranged to adjust the
sound waves from different sound guiding holes to generate a same
phase. The adjusted sound waves may be used to reduce leaked sound
wave having the same wavelength. Alternatively, different sound
guiding holes 30 may be arranged to generate different phases to
reduce leaked sound wave having different wavelengths (i.e., leaked
sound waves with specific wavelengths).
[0152] In some embodiments, different portions of a same sound
guiding hole can be configured to generate a same phase to reduce
leaked sound waves on the same wavelength (e.g., using a pre-set
damping layer with the shape of stairs or steps). In some
embodiments, different portions of a same sound guiding hole can be
configured to generate different phases to reduce leaked sound
waves on different wavelengths.
[0153] The above-described embodiments are preferable embodiments
with various configurations of the sound guiding hole(s) on the
housing of a bone conduction speaker, but a person having ordinary
skills in the art can understand that the embodiments don't limit
the configurations of the sound guiding hole(s) to those described
in this application.
[0154] In the past bone conduction speakers, the housing of the
bone conduction speakers is closed, so the sound source inside the
housing is sealed inside the housing. In the embodiments of the
present disclosure, there can be holes in proper positions of the
housing, making the sound waves inside the housing and the leaked
sound waves having substantially same amplitude and substantially
opposite phases in the space, so that the sound waves can interfere
with each other and the sound leakage of the bone conduction
speaker is reduced. Meanwhile, the volume and weight of the speaker
do not increase, the reliability of the product is not comprised,
and the cost is barely increased. The designs disclosed herein are
easy to implement, reliable, and effective in reducing sound
leakage.
[0155] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating components in a
speaker (e.g., the speaker as described elsewhere in the present
disclosure) according to some embodiments of the present
disclosure. As shown in FIG. 14, the speaker 1400 may include at
least one of an earphone core 1410 (e.g., the transducer 22), an
auxiliary function module 1420, a flexible circuit board 1430, a
power source assembly 1440, a controller 1450, or the like.
[0156] The earphone core 1410 may be configured to process signals
containing audio information, and convert the signals into sound
signals. The audio information may include video or audio files
with a specific data format, or data or files that may be converted
into sound in a specific manner. The signals containing the audio
information may include electrical signals, optical signals,
magnetic signals, mechanical signals or the like, or any
combination thereof. The processing operation may include frequency
division, filtering, denoising, amplification, smoothing, or the
like, or any combination thereof. The conversion may involve a
coexistence and interconversion of energy of different types. For
example, the electrical signal may be converted into mechanical
vibrations that generates sound through the earphone core 1410
directly. As another example, the audio information may be included
in the optical signal, and a specific earphone core may implement a
process of converting the optical signal into a vibration signal.
Energy of other types that may coexist and interconvert to each
other during the working process of the earphone core 1410 may
include thermal energy, magnetic field energy, and so on.
[0157] In some embodiments, the earphone core 1410 may include one
or more acoustic drivers. The acoustic driver(s) may be used to
convert electrical signals into sound for playback. For example,
each of the acoustic driver(s) may include a transducer as
described elsewhere in the present disclosure.
[0158] The auxiliary function module 1420 may be configured to
receive auxiliary signals and execute auxiliary functions. The
auxiliary function module 1420 may include one or more microphones
(e.g., for detecting external sound), button modules, Bluetooth
modules (e.g., for connecting the speaker 1400 to other devices
(e.g., a user terminal of a user)), sensors, or the like, or any
combination thereof. The auxiliary signals may include status
signals (for example, on, off, hibernation, connection, etc.) of
the auxiliary function module 1420, signals generated through user
operations (for example, input and output signals generated by the
user through keys, voice input, etc.), signals in the environment
(for example, audio signals in the environment), or the like, or
any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the auxiliary
function module 1420 may transmit the received auxiliary signals
through the flexible circuit board 1430 to the other components in
the speaker 1400 for processing.
[0159] A button module may be configured to control the speaker
1400, so as to implement the interaction between the user and the
speaker 1400. The user may send a command to the speaker 1400
through the button module to control the operation of the speaker
1400. In some embodiments, the button module may include a power
button, a playback control button, a sound adjustment button, a
telephone control button, a recording button, a noise reduction
button, a Bluetooth button, a return button, or the like, or any
combination thereof. The power button may be configured to control
the status (on, off, hibernation, or the like) of the power source
assembly 1440. The playback control button may be configured to
control sound playback by the earphone core 1410, for example,
playing information, pausing information, continuing to play
information, playing a previous item, playing a next item, mode
selection (e.g., a sport mode, a working mode, an entertainment
mode, a stereo mode, a folk mode, a rock mode, a bass mode, etc.),
playing environment selection (e.g., indoor, outdoor, etc.), or the
like, or any combination thereof. The sound adjustment button may
be configured to control a sound amplitude of the earphone core
1410, for example, increasing the sound, decreasing the sound, or
the like. The telephone control button may be configured to control
telephone answering, rejection, hanging up, dialing back, holding,
and/or recording incoming calls. The record button may be
configured to record and store the audio information. The noise
reduction button may be configured to select a degree of noise
reduction. For example, the user may select a level or degree of
noise reduction manually, or the speaker 1400 may select a level or
degree of noise reduction automatically according to a playback
mode selected by the user or detected ambient sound. The Bluetooth
button may be configured to turn on Bluetooth, turn off Bluetooth,
match Bluetooth, connect Bluetooth, or the like, or any combination
thereof. The return button may be configured to return to a
previous menu, interface, or the like.
[0160] A sensor may be configured to detect information related to
the speaker 1400. For example, the sensor may be configured to
detect the user's fingerprint, and transmit the detected
fingerprint to the controller 1450. The controller 1450 may match
the received fingerprint with a fingerprint pre-stored in the
speaker 1400. If the matching is successful, the controller 1450
may generate an instruction that may be transmitted to each
component to initiate the speaker 1400. As another example, the
sensor may be configured to detect the position of the speaker
1400. When the sensor detects that the speaker 1400 is detached
from a user's face, the sensor may transmit the detected
information to the controller 1450, and the controller 1450 may
generate an instruction to pause or stop the playback of the
speaker 1400. In some embodiments, exemplary sensors may include a
ranging sensor (e.g., an infrared ranging sensor, a laser ranging
sensor, etc.), a speed sensor, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a
positioning sensor, a displacement sensor, a pressure sensor, a gas
sensor, a light sensor, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a
fingerprint sensor, an iris sensor, an image sensor (e.g., a
vidicon, a camera, etc.), or the like, or any combination
thereof.
[0161] The flexible circuit board 1430 may be configured to connect
different components in the speaker 1400. The flexible circuit
board 1430 may be a flexible printed circuit (FPC). In some
embodiments, the flexible circuit board 1430 may include one or
more bonding pads and/or one or more flexible wires. The one or
more bonding pads may be configured to connect the one or more
components of the speaker 1400 or other bonding pads. The one or
more flexible wires may be configured to connect the components of
the speaker 1400 with one bonding pad, two or more bonding pads, or
the like. In some embodiments, the flexible circuit board 1430 may
include one or more flexible circuit boards. Merely by ways of
example, the flexible circuit board 1430 may include a first
flexible circuit board and a second flexible circuit board. The
first flexible circuit board may be configured to connect two or
more of the microphone, the earphone core 1410, and the controller
1450. The second flexible circuit board may be configured to
connect two or more of the power source assembly 1440, the earphone
core 1410, the controller 1450, or the like. In some embodiments,
the flexible circuit board 1430 may be an integral structure
including one or more regions. For example, the flexible circuit
board 1430 may include a first region and a second region. The
first region may be provided with flexible wires for connecting the
bonding pads on the flexible circuit board 1430 and other
components on the speaker 1400. The second region may be configured
to set one or more bonding pads. In some embodiments, the power
source assembly 1440 and/or the auxiliary function module 1420 may
be connected to the flexible circuit board 1430 (for example, the
bonding pads) through the flexible wires of the flexible circuit
board 1430. More details of the flexible circuit board 1430 may be
disclosed elsewhere in the present disclosure, for example, FIG. 16
and the descriptions thereof.
[0162] The power source assembly 1440 may be configured to provide
electrical power to the components of the speaker 1400. In some
embodiments, the power source assembly 1440 may include a flexible
circuit board, a battery, etc. The flexible circuit board may be
configured to connect the battery and other components of the
speaker 1400 (for example, the earphone core 1410), and provide
power for operations of the other components. In some embodiments,
the power source assembly 1440 may also transmit its state
information to the controller 1450 and receive instructions from
the controller 1450 to perform corresponding operations. The state
information of the power source assembly 1440 may include an on/off
state, state of charge, time for use, a charging time, or the like,
or any combination thereof.
[0163] According to information of the one or more components of
the speaker 1400, the controller 1450 may generate an instruction
to control the power source assembly 1440. For example, the
controller 1450 may generate control instructions to control the
power source assembly 1440 to provide power to the earphone core
1410 for generating sound. As another example, when the speaker
1400 does not receive input information within a certain time, the
controller 1450 may generate a control instruction to control the
power source assembly 1440 to enter a hibernation state. In some
embodiments, the power source assembly 1440 may include a storage
battery, a dry battery, a lithium battery, a Daniel battery, a fuel
battery, or any combination thereof.
[0164] Merely by way of example, the controller 1450 may receive a
sound signal from the user, for example, "play a song", from the
auxiliary function module 1420. By processing the sound signal, the
controller 1450 may generate control instructions related to the
sound signal. For example, the control instructions may control the
earphone core 1410 to obtain information of songs from a storage
module of the speaker 1400 (or other devices). Then an electric
signal for controlling the vibration of the earphone core 1410 may
be generated according to the information.
[0165] In some embodiments, the controller 1450 may include one or
more electronic frequency division modules. The electronic
frequency division modules may divide a frequency of a source
signal. The source signal may come from one or more sound source
apparatus (for example, a memory storing audio data) integrated in
the speaker 1400. The source signal may also be an audio signal
(for example, an audio signal received from the auxiliary function
module 1420) received by the speaker 1400 in a wired or wireless
manner. In some embodiments, the electronic frequency division
modules may decompose an input source signal into two or more
frequency-divided signals containing different frequencies. For
example, the electronic frequency division module may decompose the
source signal into a first frequency-divided signal with
high-frequency sound and a second frequency-divided signal with
low-frequency sound. Signals processed by the electronic frequency
division modules may be transmitted to the earphone core 1410 in a
wired or wireless manner for further processing.
[0166] In some embodiments, the controller 1450 may include a
central processing unit (CPU), an application-specific integrated
circuit (ASIC), an application-specific instruction-set processor
(ASIP), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a physical processing
unit (PPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a field-programmable
gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a controller,
a microcontroller unit, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC),
a microprocessor, or the like, or any combination thereof.
[0167] In some embodiments, at least one of the earphone core 1410,
the auxiliary function module 1420, the flexible circuit board
1430, the power source assembly 1430, and the controller 1450 may
be disposed in a housing of the speaker 1400. The connection and/or
communication between the electronic components may be wired or
wireless. The wired connection may include metal cables, fiber
optical cables, hybrid cables, or the like, or any combination
thereof. The wireless connection may include a local area network
(LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a Bluetooth.TM., a ZigBee.TM., a
near field communication (NFC), or the like, or any combination
thereof.
[0168] The description of the speaker 1400 may be for illustration
purposes, and not intended to limit the scope of the present
disclosure. For those skilled in the art, various changes and
modifications may be made according to the description of the
present disclosure. For example, the components and/or functions of
the speaker 1400 may be changed or modified according to a specific
implementation. For example, the speaker 1400 may include a storage
component for storing signals containing audio information. As
another example, the speaker 1400 may include one or more
processors, which may execute one or more sound signal processing
algorithms for processing sound signals. These changes and
modifications may remain within the scope of the present
disclosure.
[0169] FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating an
interconnection of a plurality of components in the speaker 1400
according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0170] The flexible circuit board 1430 may include one or more
first bonding pads (i.e., first bonding pads 232-1, 232-2, 232-3,
232-4, 232-5, 232-6), one or more second bonding pads (i.e., second
bonding pads 234-1, 234-2, 234-3, 234-4), and one or more flexible
wires. At least one first bonding pad in the flexible circuit board
1430 may be connected to the at least one second bonding pad in a
wired manner. Merely by way of example, the first bonding pad 232-1
and the second bonding pad 234-1 may be connected through a
flexible wire. The first bonding pad 232-2 and the second bonding
pad 234-2 may be connected through a flexible wire. The first
bonding pad 232-5 and the second bonding pad 234-3 may be connected
through a flexible wire. The first bonding pad 232-5 and the second
bonding pad 234-3 may be connected through a flexible wire, and the
first bonding pad 232-6 and the second bonding pad 234-4 may be
connected through a flexible wire.
[0171] In some embodiments, each component in the speaker 1400 may
be separately connected to one or more bonding pads. For example,
the earphone core 1410 may be electrically connected to the first
bonding pad 232-1 and the first bonding pad 232-2 through a wire
212-1 and a wire 212-2, respectively. The auxiliary function module
1420 may be connected to the first bonding pad 232-5 and the first
bonding pad 232-6 through a wire 222-1 and a wire 222-2,
respectively. The controller 1450 may be connected to the second
bonding pad 234-1 through a wire 252-1, connected to the second
bonding pad 234-2 through a wire 252-2, connected to the first
bonding pad 234-3 through a wire 252-3, connected to the first
bonding pad 232-4 through a wire 252-4, connected to the second
bonding pad 234-3 through a wire 252-5, and connected to the second
bonding pad 234-4 through a wire 252-6. The power source assembly
1440 may be connected to the first bonding pad 234-3 through a wire
242-1, and connected to the first bonding pad 232-4 through a wire
242-2. The wire mentioned above may be a flexible wire or an
external wire. The external wire may include audio signal wires,
auxiliary signal wires, or the like, or a combination thereof. The
audio signal wire may include a wire connected to the earphone core
1410 for transmitting an audio signal to the earphone core 1410.
The auxiliary signal wire may include a wire connected to the
auxiliary function module 1420 for performing signal transmission
with the auxiliary function module 1420. For example, the wire
212-1 and the wire 212-2 may be audio signal wires. As another
example, the wire 222-1 and the wire 222-2 may be auxiliary signal
wires. As another example, the wires 252-1 through 252-6 may
include audio signal wires and auxiliary signal wires. In some
embodiments, one or more grooves for burying wires may be provided
in the speaker 1400 for placing the wires and/or the flexible
wires.
[0172] Merely by way of example, a user of the speaker 1400 may
send signals to the speaker 1400 by pressing a key (for example, a
signal for playing music). The signals may be transmitted to the
first bonding pad 232-5 and/or the first bonding pad 232-6 of the
flexible circuit board 1430 through the wire 222-1 and/or the wire
222-2, then be transmitted to the second bonding pad 234-3 and/or
second bonding pad 234-4 through a flexible wire. The signals may
be transmitted to the controller 1450 through the wire 252-5 and/or
the wire 252-6 that are connected to the second bonding pad 234-3
and/or the second bonding pad 234-4. The controller 1450 may
analyze and process the received signals, and generate
corresponding instructions according to the processed signals. The
instructions generated by the controller 1450 may be transmitted to
the flexible circuit board 1430 through one or more of the wires
252-1 through 252-6. The instructions generated by the controller
1450 may be transmitted to the earphone core 1410 through the wire
212-1 and/or the wire 212-2 that are connected to the flexible
circuit board 1430, and may control the earphone core 1410 to play
related music. The instructions generated by the controller 1450
may be transmitted to the power source assembly 1440 through the
wire 242-1 and/or the wire 242-2 that are connected to the flexible
circuit board 1430, and may control the power source assembly 1440
to provide other components with power required to play music. The
connection through the flexible circuit board 1430 may simplify the
wire routing of different components in the speaker 1400, reduce
mutual influences between the wires, and save the space occupied by
the inner wires in the speaker 1400.
[0173] FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary
power source assembly in a speaker according to some embodiments of
the present disclosure. The power source assembly 1600 may be an
exemplary power source assembly 1440 as described in FIGS. 14 and
15.
[0174] As shown in FIG. 16, the power source assembly 1600 may
include a battery 410 and a flexible circuit board 420. In some
embodiments, the battery 410 and the flexible circuit board 420 may
be disposed in a housing of a speaker (e.g., the speaker 1400) as
described elsewhere in the present disclosure.
[0175] The battery 410 may include a body region 412 and a sealing
region 414. In some embodiments, the sealing region 414 may be
disposed between the flexible circuit board 420 and the body region
412, and may be connected to the flexible circuit board 420 and the
body region 412. A connection manner of the sealing region 414 with
the flexible circuit board 420 and the body region 412 may include
a fixed connection and/or a movable connection. In some
embodiments, the sealing region 414 and the body region 410 may be
tiled, and the thickness of the sealing region 414 may be less than
or equal to the thickness of the body region 412, such that the at
least one side of the sealing region 414 and a surface of the body
region 410 adjacent to the at least one side may have a shape of a
stair. In some embodiments, the battery 410 may include a positive
terminal and a negative terminal. The positive and negative
terminals may be connected directly or indirectly (for example,
through flexible circuit board 420) to other components in the
speaker.
[0176] In some embodiments, the flexible circuit board 420 may
include a first board 421 and a second board 422. The first board
421 may include a first bonding pad a second bonding pad, and a
flexible wire. The first bonding pad may include a third bonding
pad group 423-1, a third bonding pad group 423-2, a third bonding
pad group 423-3, and a third bonding pad group 423-4. Each third
bonding pad group may include one or more fourth bonding pads, for
example, two fourth bonding pads. The second bonding pad may
include a second bonding pad 425-1 and a second bonding pad 425-2.
The one or more fourth bonding pads of each of the third bonding
pad groups of the first bonding pad may connect two or more
components of the speaker. For example, a fourth bonding pad in the
third bonding pad group 423-1 may be connected to the earphone core
(for example, earphone core 1410) through an external wire. A
fourth bonding pad may be connected to another fourth bonding pad
in the third bonding pad group 423-1 through a flexible wire
disposed on the second board 422. Another fourth bonding pad in the
third bonding pad group 423-1 may be connected to a controller (for
example, the controller 1450) of the speaker through an external
wire, thereby connecting an earphone core (e.g., the earphone core
1410) of the speaker and the controller for communication. As
another example, a fourth bonding pad in the third bonding pad
group 423-2 may be connected to a Bluetooth module of the speaker
through an external wire. The fourth bonding pad in the third
bonding pad group 423-2 may be connected to another fourth bonding
pad in the third bonding pad group 423-2 through a flexible wire.
The another fourth bonding pad in the third bonding pad group 423-2
may be connected to the earphone core through an external wire,
thereby connecting the earphone core to the Bluetooth module, so
that the speaker may play audio information through the Bluetooth
connection. One or more second bonding pads (for example, the
second bonding pads 425-1 and 425-2) may be used to connect the one
or more components of the speaker to the battery 410. For example,
the second bonding pad 425-1 and/or the second bonding pad 425-2
may be connected to the earphone core through an external wire. The
second bonding pad 425-1 and/or the second bonding pad 425-2 may be
connected to the battery 410 through a flexible wire provided on
the second board 422, thereby connecting the earphone core and the
battery 410.
[0177] There may be multiple arrangements of the first bonding pads
423 and the second bonding pads 425. For example, all the bonding
pads may be arranged along a straight line, or be arranged at other
shapes. In some embodiments, one or more groups of the first
bonding pads 423 may be spaced apart along a length direction of
the first board 421. One or more fourth bonding pads in each of the
third bonding pad groups of the first bonding pad may be disposed
along a width direction of the first board 421. The one or more
fourth pads may be staggered and spaced along the length of the
first bonding pad. One or more second bonding pads 425 may be
disposed in the middle region of the first board 421. One or more
second bonding pads 425 may be disposed along the length direction
of the first board 421. In this way, on the one hand, it may be
possible to avoid the formation of a flush interval region between
adjacent two groups of third bonding pads, so that the strength
distribution on the first board 421 may be uniform. Occurrence of
bending between adjacent two groups of third bonding pads may be
reduced, and a probability of the first board 421 being broken due
to the bending may be reduced to protect the first board 421. On
the other hand, it may increase the distance between the bonding
pads, thereby facilitating the welding as well as reducing short
circuits between different bonding pads.
[0178] In some embodiments, the second board 422 may be provided
with one or more flexible wires 422 for connecting the bonding pads
on the first board 421 to the battery 410. Merely by way of
example, the second board 422 may include two flexible wires. One
end of each of the two flexible wires may be connected to the
positive terminal and the negative terminal of the battery 410,
respectively, and the other end of each of the two flexible wires
may be connected to a pad on the first board 421. Therefore, there
may be no need to provide additional bonding pads to lead out the
positive and negative electrodes of the battery 410, which may
reduce the number of bonding pads and simplify structures and
technologies used herein. Since only the flexible wire is provided
on the first board 421, in some embodiments, the second board 422
may be bent similarly according to specific conditions. For
example, the second board 422 may be bent to fix one end of the
first board 421 to the battery 410, thereby reducing the volume of
the power source assembly 1600, saving the space for housing the
power source assembly 1600 in the speaker and improving a space
utilization rate. As another example, by folding the second board
422, the first board 421 may be attached to the side surface of the
battery 410, such that the second board 422 may be stacked with the
battery 410, thereby reducing the space occupied by the power
source assembly 1600 greatly.
[0179] In some embodiments, the flexible circuit board 420 may be
an integral part, and the first board 421 and the second board 422
may be two regions of the flexible circuit board. In some
embodiments, the flexible circuit board 420 may be divided into two
independent parts, for example, the first board 421 and the second
board 422 may be two independent boards. In some embodiments, the
flexible circuit board 420 may be disposed in a space formed by the
body region 412 and/or the sealing region 414 of the battery 410,
so that there is no need to provide a separate space for the
flexible circuit board 420, thereby further improving the space
utilization.
[0180] In some embodiments, the power source assembly 1600 may
further include a hard circuit board 416. The hard circuit board
416 may be disposed in the sealing region 414. The positive and
negative terminals of a specific battery 410 may be disposed on the
hard circuit board 416. Further, a protection circuit may be
provided on the hard circuit board 416 to protect the battery 410
from overloading. An end of the second board 422 far away from the
first board 421 may be fixedly connected to the hard circuit board
416, so that the flexible wires on the second board 422 may be
connected to the positive terminal and the negative terminal of the
battery 410, respectively. In some embodiments, the second board
422 and the hard circuit board 416 may be pressed together during
fabrication.
[0181] In some embodiments, the shapes of the first board 421 and
the second board 422 may be set according to actual conditions. The
shapes of the first board 421 and the second board 422 may include
a square, a rectangle, a triangle, a polygon, a circle, an oval, an
irregular shape, or the like. In some embodiments, the shape of the
second board 422 may match the shape of the sealing region 414 of
the battery 410. For example, both the shapes of the sealing region
414 and the second board 422 may be rectangular, and the shape of
the first board 421 may also be rectangular. And the first board
421 may be disposed at one end in the length direction of the
second board 422 and be perpendicular to the second board 422 along
the length direction. Further, the second board 422 may be
connected to the middle region in the length direction of the first
board 421, so that the first board 421 and the second board 422 may
be disposed in a T shape.
[0182] In some embodiments, when the user wears the speaker (for
example, the speaker 1400), the speaker may be on at least one side
of the user's head, and be close to but not block the user's ear.
The speaker may be worn on the user's head (for example, open
earphones worn off the ears with glasses, headbands, or other
means) or on other parts of the user's body, such as the user's
neck/shoulders.
[0183] In some embodiments, the speaker described elsewhere in the
present disclosure may further include a Bluetooth low energy (BLE)
module for implementing Bluetooth modules used in the speaker. FIG.
17 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary BLE module
according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The BLE
module 1700 may include a processor 4610, a storage 4620, a
transceiver 4630, and an interface 4640.
[0184] The BLE module 1700 may facilitate communications between
components of the speaker (e.g., one or more sensors such as a
locating sensor, an orientation sensor, an inertial sensor, etc.)
or a communication between the speaker and an external device
(e.g., a terminal device of a user, a cloud data center, a
peripheral device of the speaker, etc.) using BLE technology. BLE
is a wireless communication technology published by the Bluetooth
Special Interest Group (BT-SIG) standard as a component of
Bluetooth Core Specification Version 4.0. BLE is a lower power,
lower complexity, and lower cost wireless communication protocol,
designed for applications requiring lower data rates and shorter
duty cycles. Inheriting the protocol stack and star topology of
classical Bluetooth, BLE redefines the physical layer
specification, and involves new features such as a very-low power
idle mode, a simple device discovery, and short data packets,
etc.
[0185] The transceiver 4630 may receive data (e.g., an audio
message) to be played by the speaker. The transceiver 4630 may
include any suitable logic and/or circuitry to facilitate receiving
signals from and/or transmitting signals to other components of the
speaker or an external device wirelessly. In some embodiments, the
transceiver 4630 may transmit the received data to the processor
4610 for processing. For example, the processor 4610 may perform a
noise reduction on the received data. As another example, the
processor 4610 may serve as an equalizer, which adjusts the volume,
the tone, etc. of an audio message adaptively according to actual
needs. In some embodiments, the processor 4610 may execute
instructions embodied in software (including firmware) associated
with the operations of BLE module 1700 for managing the operations
of transceiver 4630. In some embodiments, the processor 4610 may
facilitate processing and forwarding of received data from the
transceiver 4630 and/or processing and forwarding of data to be
transmitted by the transceiver 4630. The storage 4620 may store one
or more instructions executed by the processor 4610, dated received
from the transceiver 4630 and/or data to be transmitted by the
transceiver 4630, or the like. The storage 4620 may include but is
not limited to, RAM, ROM, flash memory, a hard drive, a solid state
drive, or other volatile and/or non-volatile storage devices. The
BLE module 1700 may interact with one or more modules or components
of the speaker via the interface 4640.
[0186] It will be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the
functionality of one or more of the processor 4610, the storage
4620, the transceiver 4630, and/or the interface 4640 may be
integrated with one or more modules of the speaker on a same
circuit board, such as a system on a chip (SOC), an application
specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. In some embodiments, the
BLE module 1700 or one or more components thereof may be integrated
on a same circuit board with the earphone core 1410 and/or the
controller 1450. The circuit board may connect to the power source
assembly through the flexible circuit board 1430.
[0187] FIG. 18 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process
for transmitting data to another device (e.g., a terminal device)
through a BLE module (e.g., the BLE module 1700) according to some
embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0188] In 1810, data may be encoded. In some embodiments, a speaker
(e.g., the speaker 1400) may transmit the data to another device
through the BLE module 1700. The BLE module may encode the data to
be transmitted. In some embodiments, the BLE module 1700 may encode
the data using a Low Complexity Communications Codec (LC3).
[0189] In 1820, a BLE data packet may be generated. A BLE data
packet may be generated based on the encoded data. In some
embodiments, the BLE module 1700 may obtain parameters or
attributes associated with the data before the BLE data packets are
generated. The parameters or attributes associated with the data
may include parameters for decoding the data (e.g., the codec of
the data), parameters for demodulating the data, the volume of the
data, the tone of the data, the content of the data, or the like,
or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the BLE data
packets may also include the parameters or attributes associated
with the data. In some embodiments, the data may be divided into
multiple data segments of particular sizes if the data is
oversized. A BLE data packet may be generated based on each data
segment such that the transmission speed of the data may be
improved.
[0190] In 1830, the BLE data packet may be modulated onto a BLE
channel. In some embodiments, if the data is divided into multiple
data segments, multiple BLE channels may be established, and each
of the multiple data segments may be modulated onto a BLE
channel.
[0191] In 1840, the modulated BLE data packet may be transmitted to
another device through the BLE channel. In some embodiments, data
transmission between the BLE module 1700 and the another device may
be implemented according to a protocol suitable for BLE.
[0192] FIG. 19 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process
for determining a location of a speaker using a BLE module (e.g.,
the BLE 1700) according to some embodiments of the present
disclosure.
[0193] In some embodiments, the BLE module 1700 may determine a
location of the speaker. The BLE module 1700 may function as a
locating sensor. In some embodiments, the locating sensor may be
omitted in the speaker, thus reducing the size, the weight, and the
power consumption of the speaker. In some embodiments, the BLE
module 1700 may determine the location of the speaker by performing
the operations 1910 through 1940 in the process 1900.
[0194] In 1910, position tags around the speaker may be scanned. In
some embodiments, a position tag refers to an identifier indicating
a position of a BLE device. In some embodiments, the identifier may
include a character string representing the position of the BLE
device. In some embodiments, the identifier may further include
character strings representing a name, a service, a device ID,
etc., of the BLE device. In some embodiment, the BLE device may be
a BLE transceiver set at a virtual or physical location. In some
embodiments, the BLE device may be another BLE module implemented
in a terminal device (e.g., a mobile phone, a smart wearable
device, etc.) of a user. In some embodiments, the BLE module 1700
may scan for position tags in a certain range (for example, in a
circular range centered by the acoustic output apparatus with a
radius of 100 meters). In some embodiments, the manner in which the
scanning operation is performed, a frequency of scanning operation,
and a width of a scanning window (e.g., the certain range) of the
scanning operation may be set by a user (e.g., a wearer of the
speaker), according to default settings of the speaker, etc. Within
the scanning window, the BLE module 1700 may detect position tags
of multiple BLE devices sensed by the transceiver 4630.
[0195] In 1920, messages related to one or more detected position
tags may be obtained within the scanning window. In some
embodiments, the BLE module 1700 may detect multiple position tags,
and obtain messages including identifiers from BLE devices
corresponding to the multiple position tags. In some embodiments,
the processor 4610 of the BLE module 1700 may determine if the
messages are obtained from "allowed" BLE devices (e.g., qualified
BLE transceivers). The BLE module 1700 may determine a value of an
identifier contained in each message. In some embodiments, a value
of an identifier contained in a message may be determined based on
at least one of character strings of the position, the name, the
service, the device ID, etc. of the identifier. The processor 4610
of the BLE module 1700 may compare the value with one or more
preset values. In some embodiments, the BLE module 1700 may
identify the one or more position tags and corresponding "allowed"
BLE devices according to the comparison. In some embodiments, in
order to provide a relatively precise position of the speaker, at
least three position tags may be obtained within the scanning
window.
[0196] In 1930, one or more parameters associated with the messages
may be determined. When the BLE module 1700 confirms that the
messages are obtained from the "allowed" BLE devices, the processor
4610 may instruct the BLE module 1700 to record a radio parameter
associated with each message. In some embodiments, the radio
parameter may include a received signal strength indicator (RSSI)
value, a bit error rate (BER), etc. In some embodiments, the
message, the radio parameter regarding the message, and the
identifier obtained from the message may be stored in the storage
4620.
[0197] In 1940, the location of the speaker may be calculated based
on the obtained messages and the one or more parameters associated
with the messages. In some embodiments, the processor 4610 may
calculate a relative location of the acoustic output apparatus
relative to the"allowed" BLE devices from which the one or more
position tags are obtained based on the messages and the one or
more parameters associated with the messages. Since locations of
the "allowed" BLE devices are known, the location of the speaker
(e.g., in forms of coordinates of latitude and longitude) may be
determined based on the relative location of the speaker relative
to the "allowed" BLE devices. The determination of the location of
the speaker may be performed using any suitable methods. In this
way, the calculation of the location of the speaker may use less
battery power. In some embodiments, if there are more than three
position tags are detected, and messages related to the position
tags are obtained, the processor 4610 may rank the messages
according to the RSSI values associated with the messages. Messages
corresponding to three highest RSSI values may be identified from
the more than three messages, and the identified messages and the
one or more parameters associated with the messages may be used to
determine the location of the speaker.
[0198] In some embodiments, the location of the speaker may be
determined at any suitable frequency. Determined locations of the
speaker may be filtered in any suitable manner so as to minimize
errors due to external factors, such as a person standing between
the speaker and the "allowed" BLE devices.
[0199] It should be noted that the above description of the process
1900 is merely provided for the purposes of illustration, and not
intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. For persons
having ordinary skills in the art, multiple variations or
modifications may be made under the teachings of the present
disclosure. For example, the BLE module may also be used to
determine a direction of the speaker relative to a BLE device
nearby. However, those variations and modifications do not depart
from the scope of the present disclosure.
[0200] It's noticeable that above statements are preferable
embodiments and technical principles thereof. A person having
ordinary skill in the art is easy to understand that this
disclosure is not limited to the specific embodiments stated, and a
person having ordinary skill in the art can make various obvious
variations, adjustments, and substitutes within the protected scope
of this disclosure. Therefore, although above embodiments state
this disclosure in detail, this disclosure is not limited to the
embodiments, and there can be many other equivalent embodiments
within the scope of the present disclosure, and the protected scope
of this disclosure is determined by following claims.
* * * * *